Market Snapshot: Nifty Smallcap Outperforms Nifty, Sensex; Nazara Tech Rallies 18%

By Malvika Gurung

Investing.com -- Domestic equity indices opened in green on the last trading day of the week, tracking positive cues from global markets as Asian markets jumped up to 2% in early trade on Friday, mirroring an overnight bounce in Wall Street. 

Benchmark indices Nifty50 climbed 0.53% and Sensex gained 242.35 points or 0.46% at 12:30 pm, as investors remained concerned evaluating the economic outlook and interest rate hike expectations.

Gains in the Nifty50 index are led by industry majors like Mahindra & Mahindra (NS: MAHM ) and Hero MotoCorp (NS: HROM ), surging up to 3%, while auto, banking and financial stocks supported the market.

Small-cap stock Solara Active soared 17.11% and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala portfolio stock Nazara Technologies (NS: NAZA ) rallied 17.77%, nearing its 52-week high.

Barring Nifty IT , all sectoral indices listed under the Nifty basket traded in red, led by Nifty Auto and Nifty Media . Nifty Bank rose 1.1%. Broader market indices Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 outperformed headline indices, surging 0.98% and 1.02%, at the time of writing.

PMI and retail sales in Europe and the US are leading indicators signalling an economic slowdown. However, central banks globally are continuing to hike interest rates despite the slowdown, with the likelihood of the US market entering a recession.

“Since the market knows this and equities are in oversold territory, this has triggered short-term upmoves,” stated Vijayakumar of Geojit Financial Services,

Oil traded flat, as Brent crude lowered 0.12% to $109.92/barrel, while WTI Futures and Natural gas futures traded on a muted note.