Sensex, Nifty Edge Higher In Early Trade; Metal And Pharma Stocks Slide

Indian shares opened on a positive note Friday as a firmer rupee and falling oil prices offset mixed global cues.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 253 points, or 0.4 percent, to 60,010 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty index was up 65 points, or 0.4 percent, at 17,802.

Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, HDFC, Bajaj Auto and ONGC gained 1-2 percent in the Nifty pack, while metal stocks such as Hindalco, JSW Steel and Tata Steel all fell over 1 percent.

Healthcare stocks were also moving lower, with Divis Laboratories and Sun Pharma falling around 1 percent each.

Vedanta fell 2.4 percent after the government extended its Rajasthan gas facility contract by 10 years.

IDBI Bank gained 0.7 percent. The deadline for potential bidders to submit queries on the proposed stake sale has been extended by 13 days till Nov. 10.

Indus Towers declined 2.5 percent while Spandana Sphoorty Financial rose over 1 percent on fund raising reports.

Infibeam Avenues soared 14 percent. The company has received in-principle approval from RBI to operate as a payment aggregator.

Kaveri Seed Company fell about 1 percent on share buyback news.

PC Jeweller was little changed after it defaulted on loan facilities worth Rs 3,466.28 crore.

Tata Chemicals tumbled 4.5 percent on reporting a nearly three-fold jump in consolidated net profit for the September 2022 quarter on higher income.

Texmaco Rail and Engineering advanced 1.4 percent as it bagged a Rs. 252.88 crore contract to supply standard gauge ballastless track for the Indore Metro Rail project.