Stock market update: Nifty attempts 17,400, Sensex gains 250 points; PSU Bank, financial stocks gain

After opening lower, the Indian markets were back to trading in the green supported by PSU bank and financial services stocks amid volatility and weak global cues on Friday. Domestic equity benchmarks Nifty 50 and the S&P BSE Sensex were trading higher by 0.32% and 0.42% respectively around 12.40 pm on Thursday as uncertainty prevails around Russ-Ukraine situation .  

After slipping below 17,300, the 50-shareNifty gained more than 50 points to trade at 17,359 as 27 shares advanced and 13 declined on the index.  

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S&P BSE Sensex added around 250 points to reclaim 58,100 amid 20 shares trading in the green and 10 stocks declining on the 30-share index.  

Nifty Midcap index was trading flat while the small cap gained 0.30 per cent. Among sectoral indices, Nifty Bank was trading with over half per cent gain to above 37,700.  

Banking, financial services and metal indices were trading higher in an otherwise negative market, while Pharma and healthcare were seen struggling.  

Coal India with nearly 3 per cent gain was leading the Nifty index, while HDFC Ltd was trading higher by 1.5% to lead the Sensex-pack of 30 shares.  

Other gainers on the benchmarks were SBI Life, Grasim, HDFC Ltd, L&T, State Bank, Tata Steel and IndusInd Bank. Cipla, ONGC, Divis Laboratories, Shree Cement, Ultratech cement, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel and Titan were top losers.  

"With 17340 remaining a sticky region, we may have to wait for a test of 17070 or a direct pullback above 17340 before playing for upsides," Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services had said in market opening commentary.