Nifty Ends Higher, Reliance Falls 8.6%

Benchmark indices ended the day higher as European markets traded in the green and banking stocks and finance stocks led by HDFC saw a solid surge.

The Nifty ended the day higher by 26 points at 11,669 points. Banking stocks were the clear winners after ICICI Bank shares surged more than 6 per cent, following a spectacular set of quarterly results. This pushed other banking stocks including the likes of Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and State Bank of India higher.

In fact, the Bank Nifty saw a solid surge of almost 4 per cent in trade. Reliance Industries was clearly the weak spot in trade with the stock losing nearly 8.62 per cent, after a dip in its net profits for the quarter ending Sept 30, 2020. The company's gross refining margin was badly impacted with the same placed at $5.7 per barrel as compared to $9.4 a year earlier, the company said.

Other Nifty stocks that had a weakish session in trade were Eicher Motors, HCL Tech and Tata Consultancy Services. In fact, along with Banking stocks, IT stocks saw some weakness.

Shares in HDFC surged following a better than expected net profit at Rs 2,870.1 crore against expectations of around 2,300 crores.

Meanwhile, most European markets were trading with gains, led by the German DAX.