Markets back to winning ways as banks, power stocks jump; log weekly gains

Mumbai:Benchmark indices resumed their ascent on Friday after a day’s breather as investors flocked to banking and power stocks amid a rebound in global markets.
After rallying 359 points during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 214.33 points or 0.56 per cent higher at 38,434.72.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty rose 59.40 points or 0.53 per cent to close at 11,371.60.
NTPC was the top performer in the Sensex pack, rallying 4.75 per cent, followed by Asian Paints, PowerGrid, HDFC Bank, Nestle India, Sun Pharma, SBI and Axis Bank.
On the other hand, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries were among the laggards, shedding up to 1.34 per cent.
During the week, the Sensex advanced 557.38 points or 1.47 per cent, while the Nifty climbed 193.20 points or 1.72 per cent.
“Indices held firm today with help from select pivotals even as market participants booked profits in late afternoon trade.
“Small-caps and mid-caps did well this week and we saw a smart bout of profit booking today in this space which is heartening as it speaks about the maturity of the retail investor at a time when we keep hearing about this investing segment being victimised more often than not,” said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.
BSE power, utilities, realty, bankex, finance and consumer durables indices rose as much as 2.83 per cent, while telecom, energy, teck, metal, oil and gas and IT closed with losses.
Broader BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices rallied up to 1.41 per cent.
Global equities stabilised after Thursday’s selloff, led by technology shares on Wall Street, even as US-China tensions and unabated rise in COVID-19 cases capped the gains.
Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended in the green.
Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading in the positive terrain in early deals.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.71 per cent lower at USD 44.58 per barrel.
In the forex market, the rupee settled 18 paise higher at 74.84 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 tally zoomed past 29 lakh on Friday, a day after it crossed the 28 lakh mark, with a single-day spike of 68,898 infections, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
Recoveries have increased to 21,58,946, while the death toll has climbed to 54,849.
Globally, the number of coronavirus cases has crossed 2.26 crore, with over 7.9 lakh fatalities.

 

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