Markets settle marginally higher, Easy Trip surges 17% RIL 3%

The domestic equity benchmark indices ended with marginal gains in the volatile session on Thursday ahead of the key earnings from IT bigwigs TCS and Infosys later in the day today. RIL and private bank stocks were the lead gainers in today's trade. At close, the Sensex was up 63.47 points or 0.09 percent at 71,721.18, and the Nifty was up 28.50 points or 0.13 percent at 21,647.20. About 2022 shares advanced, 1251 shares declined, and 63 shares unchanged. 
Stocks and Sectors
Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank and BPCL were among the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included Infosys, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, SBI Life Insurance, HUL and Wipro.
Mixed trend was seen on the sectoral front with BSE.Capital Goods index down 1 percent and BSE IT index down 0.5 percent, while BSE auto and oil & gas indices up 1 percent each. Broader indices outperformed the main indices with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices adding 0.7 percent each.
On 11 Jan'24,the Indian rupee stayed firm for the seventh consecutive session and gained 2 paise to close 83.01 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday boosted by a weak American currency and softening crude oil prices.
Sustained buying in the domestic equity markets also supported the Indian currency even as investors were awaiting US inflation data to be released later in the day, forex traders said.
Experts Take:
Market experts have recommended six stocks to buy or sell for Thursday-Tata Motors, RITES, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Rico Auto Industries, and Amber Enterprises.

(Writer is a Finance Research Analyst, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat)