Markets@10: Volatile day for stocks; Cochin Shipyard, Adani rise

The market, which opened with a positive start in the morning, saw a further rise but almost lost those gains later. The Nifty began trading at 24,253.55, climbed to 24,330.70, then returned to 24,253, before rising once again. The Sensex opened at 80,193, increased to 80,452.94, then dropped to 80,056, and finally rose to 80,250.

Midcap and smallcap stocks also saw good gains today. Apart from the IT sector, all other sectors experienced positive movements in the morning. The public sector bank index surged by 4.66 percent, while private banks saw a rise of about 1.5 percent. The realty, oil and gas, auto, and finance sectors were also performing well.

Reliance Industries gained over two and a half percent, and the Adani Group companies had strong performances early in the day. Adani Green Energy and Adani Energy Solutions rose by up to 7 percent in the morning, but these gains later reduced to about 1 percent.

Shares of Cochin Shipyard rose by 8 percent after an American company awarded them a contract to build rigs for JAY. RVNL saw a 10 percent increase following an order of Rs 853 crore from Eastern Railway, while shares of RITES rose by 11 percent due to a significant contract from North Eastern Railway.

Zomato’s announcement that it would be included in the BSE Sensex index on December 23 boosted its shares by 7 percent, while JSW Steel, which is being excluded from the index, saw a 4 percent decline.

Federal Bank shares hit a record high of Rs 212 in the morning but later dropped below Rs 210. Kitex Garments, which declared a 2:1 bonus, saw its shares rise to Rs 656 before falling to Rs 645. Geojit Financial Services shares climbed to Rs 124.85 but later fell to Rs 118.85.

The Indian rupee started the day with a gain. The dollar opened at Rs 84.37, down by 8 paise, supported by a fall in the dollar index. Later, the dollar further dropped to Rs 84.33.

Gold update

Globally, gold prices fell sharply, dropping by $42 per ounce to $2671 in the morning. In Kerala, gold jewelry prices fell by Rs 800 per piece, bringing the price down to Rs 57,600.

Crude oil prices were also falling. Brent crude dropped to $74.82, before recovering slightly to $75. This sums up the market update.