Indian equities rose for the sixth straight session on Friday, the longest gaining streak since mid-March, boosted by unabated foreign fund inflows and positive Brexit developments.
The BSE benchmark Sensex closed 246.32 points or 0.63 per cent higher at 39,298.38. It hit an intra-day high of 39,361.06 and a low of 38,963.60.
The NSE gauge Nifty too rose 75.50 points or 0.65 per cent to settle at 11,661.85.
Both benchmark indices also posted their second consecutive weekly rise.
During the week, the Sensex advanced 1,171.30 points or 3.07 per cent, and the Nifty gained 356.80 points or 3.15 per cent.
Yes Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying up to 8.44 per cent, followed by Maruti, PowerGrid, NTPC, L&T and SBI.
On the other hand, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Infosys fell up to 1.05 per cent.
PSU stocks were in huge demand on Friday, led by BHEL, in-tandem with a bullish broader market trend.
On the BSE, shares of BHEL, Hindustan Copper, MMTC, Shipping Corporation of India and National Aluminium Company climbed.
Also, SAIL along with NBCC, NMDC, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, SJVN and Oil India also advanced.
“BHEL closed up by 22.2 per cent today as news emerged that government is looking to reduce its stake from 63.2 per cent to 26 per cent in the company. Based on the strategic stake sale news of BHEL, other PSUs such as Hindustan Copper, SAIL etc also rallied today in anticipation of government reducing its stake in them as well,” said Jaipal Shetty, fundamental analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.
Shares of Reliance Industries ended 1.37 per cent higher ahead of its quarterly earnings, scheduled to be announced later in the day.
RIL’s market valuation zoomed to Rs 9,05,214 crore on the BSE during the day. However, at the close of trade, the company’s market capitalisation (m-cap) settled at Rs 8,97,179.47 crore.
Sectorally, among the top gainers were BSE power, capital goods, realty, utilities, metal and energy indices — rising as much as 2.63 per cent.
All 19 sectoral indices ended in the green. In broader market, BSE midcap, smallcap and largecap indices outperformed the Sensex.
“Indian equities outperformed major global markets for the week. Equity markets witnessed a sharp rally on foreign investor buying, progress in US-China trade talks as well as a deal being reached between UK and EU on Brexit,” said Sanjeev Zarbade, vice-president, PCG Research, Kotak Securities.
Foreign portfolio investors (FIIs) bought equities worth USD 1.2 billion over the past five trading sessions, while domestic institutional investors poured in USD 263 million into stock market.
FIIs purchased 1,158.63 crore shares on Thursday, stock exchange data showed.
Market experts also said that investor sentiment was upbeat after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hinted at further stimulus in FY20.
Meanwhile, the rupee closed almost flat at 71.14 per US dollar on Friday amid hardening crude oil prices and lacklustre global cues.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.12 per cent to USD 59.98 per
barrel.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul ended on a negative note after data showed that Chinese economy expanded at its slowest pace in nearly three decades in the third quarter. Exchanges in Tokyo, however, settled in the green.
Equites in Europe were trading on a mixed note in their respective early deals.
Britain and the European Union have struck an outline Brexit deal after prolonged negotiations.
The deal, however, must still be formally approved by the bloc and ratified by the European and UK parliaments.
