Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Friday’s trading session near day’s high point, supported by strong rally in IT stocks. Index made an optimistic start and remained higher as traders got support after Amitabh Kant, former CEO of NITI Aayog and G20 Sherpa, highlighted India’s rapid transformation into the third-best startup ecosystem globally, with 135 unicorns and over 1.4 lakh startups. Some support came with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that the government is taking steps to transform India into a global manufacturing hub, and he called for improving the quality of products and services to attain international standards.
In afternoon session, index extended its gains to trade higher, as sentiments remained positive with a private report stating that the rural economy of India has emerged as a significant driver of economic growth, outpacing urban areas largely due to increased government spending in the recent quarters. Traders took note of report that India, the world's third largest oil consuming and importing nation, in July bought $ 2.8 billion worth of crude oil from Russia, second only to China, which remains the largest importer of Russian oil. In last leg of trade, index magnified its gains to end near day’s high point.
All the sectorial indices ended in green. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Piramal Enterprises, Mphasis and Birlasoft. On the other hand, the top losers Aurobindo Pharma, Granules India and Voltas. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24900 - 25100 calls and 23900 - 24100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
