Business Standard Podcast

Benchmark indices ended marginally higher on Thursday led by gains in HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), ITC, Axis Bank and RIL. The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 36,725, up 89 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 11,058, up 5 points. Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank index ended 1.4 per cent higher with Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda being the top gainers. The Nifty FMCG index, too, settled 0.6 per cent higher steered by ITC and Hindustan Unilever. In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended 50 points, or 0.34 per cent lower at 14,816, while S&P BSE SmallCap index settled at 14,540, down 16 points, or 0.11 per cent. Shares of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) were trading 3 per cent higher at Rs 1,355 apiece on the BSE on Thursday. In the past three days, the company has secured multiple orders including a large contract from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation and construction of campus development of IIT Hyderabad. L&T today said the building and factories business of its construction arm has secured a prestigious order for the construction of campus development of IIT Hyderabad.   The shares of Astral Poly Technik hit a new high of Rs 1,233, up 6 per cent, on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day trade on Thursday, after shareholders approved a scheme to amalgamate Rex Polyextrusion which manufactures and supplies corrugated and other plastic piping solutions. The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,210, recorded on January 7.  Shares of HeidelbergCement India hit a 52-week high of Rs 178 apiece, up 4 per cent on the BSE, on back of heavy volumes. The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 175 recorded on September 11, 2018, on the BSE in the intra-day trade. Since February 11, 2019, HeidelbergCement India has outperformed the market by surging 25 per cent after it reported strong earnings for the quarter ended December 2018 (Q3FY19). In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 1.1 per cent during the same period.