Nifty gains 2nd day ahead of F&O expiry

Mumbai, Aug 24 (PTI) Nifty benchmark ended marginallyhigher by 18 points in a yet another choppy trade ahead ofexpiry of August futures & options contracts tomorrow. Volatility continued for the third consecutive session asfresh buying were seen in energy, pharma, media, IT and infrastocks while mild selling were seen in metal and PSU bankssectors. Market participants were also bit jittery ahead of theFed chair Janet Yellen speech at the Jackson Hole in US laterthis week. Overseas stock markets, bank stocks aided gains inEuropean equities. In Germany, the latest data showed that theGerman economy slowed in the second quarter, as investmentdropped after a strong start to the year. Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend ahead of FederalReserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s speech later this week,which could provide hints about the timing of the next ratehike from the Fed. US stocks registered small gains yesterday,after upbeat data on US new-home sales. The 50-share Nifty opened slightly higher at 8,648.50and hovered between 8,661.05 and 8,620.90 before ending at8,650.30, showing a rise of 17.70 points or 0.21 per cent. It witnessed an intra-day movement of about 40.15 pts. On the sectoral front, energy climbed by 1.15 pct,followed by pharma (1.12 pct), media (1.03 pct), financeservice (0.27 pct), realty (0.26 pct) and infra (0.22 pct). However, Nifty PSU banks eased by 0.12 per cent, metaleased by 0.07 pct and pvt bank 0.05 per cent. Notable Index gainers were, Auropharma by 6.95 pct, TataPower 2.21 pct, Maruti by 2.37 pct, Cipla 2.08 pct and Infosys1.71 pct. While, notable laggards were Idea 2.62 pct, Lupin 2.20pct, Ambuja Cem 1.44 pct, Tata MtrDvr 1.52 pct and Tata Steel1.35 per cent. A total of 948 scrips rose, 651 declined, while 76 wereunchanged. Total securities that have hit their price bandwere 110. Turnover in cash segment rose to Rs 18,386.37 crore fromRs 18,165.34 crore as on Tuesday. A total of 8,906.32 lakh shares changed hands in73,58,652 trades. The market capitalisation of NSE stood at Rs107,71,151.10 crore. PTI ARRABI