Easing yields, oil prices lift Sensex 320 pts; Pharma stocks steal the show

Stock market highlights: Easing bond yields in India, coupled with decline in oil prices globally, lifted equities in India on Friday. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex surged 320 points, or 0.49 per cent, to end at 65,828. The Nifty50, on the other hand, gained 115 points to shut shop at 19.638. 

The indices, however, ended sharply off intraday highs of 66,152 and 19,726, respectively.

Among the stocks that lent support to the frontline indices, Hindalco jumped 5.7 per cent, NTPC nearly 4 per cent, and Dr Reddy's Labs, Divis Labs, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Apollo Hospitals, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, SBI, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, and ITC added between 1 per cent and 3 per cent. 

The draggers, however, included Adani Enterprises (down 2.4 per cent), LTIMindtree, HCL Tech, Power Grid, Tech M, Infosys, Asian Paints, and TCS. 

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index outperformed its peers as it gained over 1 per cent. The BSE SmallCap, meanwhile, advanced in-line with benchmarks, up 0.6  per cent.

Sectorally, the Nifty Pharma index jumped the most, up 2.7 per cent, followed by the Nifty Metal (2 per cent), and the Nifty PSU Bank (1.6 per cent) indices.