Top Nifty gainers and losers at mid-day: NTPC, Axis surge, Wipro, Cipla decline

Bulls powered the benchmark Nifty to a new high on the December 1 morning following a strong GDP print, return of foreign funds flow and positive global cues. At 12.40 pm, the Sensex was up 514 points at 67,502, while the Nifty was up 145 points at 20,278. About 2,044 shares advanced, 1,110 declined and 103 remained unchanged.

NTPC Ltd: The stock rocketed almost 5 percent to Rs 273 on December 1, rallying for the fifth day. As many as 2 crore shares changed hands, topping the one-month daily average of 1 crore.

ITC Ltd: Shares of India’s leading cigarette maker and FMCG giant gained over 2 percent to Rs 447. About 99 lakh shares changed hands, marginally lower than the one-week average of 1 crore shares.

Axis Bank Ltd: Shares of the private lender gained 2.5 percent to Rs 1,100 on December 1, extending gains for the eighth trading session in a row.

L&T Ltd: Shares of the construction major rose Rs 3,173, up 2 percent from the previous close on the NSE. The surge comes after L&T incorporated a new wholly owned subsidiary, L&T Semiconductor Technologies Ltd. L&T subscribed 100 percent of LTST’s share capital amounting to Rs 50,000 crore. LTST is involved in the business of fabless semiconductor chip design and product ownership, the company said in an exchange filing on November 30.

Asian Paints Ltd: Shares of the paint major traded 1.7 percent down at Rs 3,170, snapping a two-day gaining streak. Volumes were low, as six lakh shares changed hands against the one-week average of 10 lakh.

Wipro Ltd: The tech stock traded fell 1.3 percent lower at Rs 407 as investors rushed to book profits after the counter’s three-day gaining streak. About 30 lakh shares changed hands against the 1-week daily average of 67 lakh shares.

HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd: The insurance major fell 1 percent to Rs 684 on December 1, snapping its four-day gaining streak. Volumes were tepid, as 13 lakh shares changed hands against the 1-week average of 25 lakh shares.

Bajaj Auto Ltd: Shares of the two-wheeler and three-wheeler major fell almost a percent to Rs 6,051. The drop came despite the company witnessing a substantial year-on-year growth in total sales, recording an impressive 31 percent increase from 3.06 lakh units to 4.03 lakh units.

SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd: The stock was down 0.6 percent at Rs 1,427 on December 1, on profit booking, a day after the counter gained 2 percent.

Cipla Ltd: Shares of the pharma major fell 0.5 percent to Rs 1,206, snapping its two-day gaining streak. Recently, Cipla EU completed the acquisition of an additional stake in Cipla Maroc SA, Morocco, a joint venture company. Cipla EU acquired an 15.1 percent of Cipla Maroc SA, Morocco shares from the Pharmaceutical Institute (PHI) for MAD 81.1 million or around $8.05 million.