Benchmarks eke out slim gains; Sensex rises 28.35 points, Nifty tops above 14,600 mark
MUMBAI: The Sensex and Nifty ticked higher for the third session on the trot on Friday but could not wipe off weekly losses amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
A strong recovery in the rupee, which zoomed 58 paise, and a bullish trend in global equities supported the bourses on Friday, traders said.
After a choppy session, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 28.35 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 48,832.03.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 36.40 points or 0.25 per cent to 14,617.85.
Asian Paints was the top performer among the Sensex components, spurting 3.07 per cent, followed by UltraTech Cement, ONGC, M&M, Sun Pharma, HCL bank is not in hurry to reduce its support,” he said.
The dollar index, which
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On the other hand, ICICI Bank, L&T, Bajaj Finance, TCS, SBI, Infosys and Reliance Industries were among
Mahindra and gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.09 per cent to 91.59. the losers, declining up to1.55 per cent.
During the holiday-truncated week, the Sensex sank 759.29 points or 1.53 per cent, while the Nifty tumbled 217
“Indian rupee gained the most in Asia buoyed by exporters’ dollar selling and foreign fund inflows. It also got support from a softer dollar and slide in US yields and higher equities. Bond gathered pace following a slate of strongerthan-expected US data which dragged dollar lower,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
According to Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, the rupee appreciated on Friday against the US Dollar tracking softening yields and firm risk appetite in the region.
“RBI’s intervention also aided the local unit,” Iyer said. points or 1.46 per cent.
India added a record 2,17,353 new coronavirus infections in a day, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,42,91,917, while active cases surpassed the 15-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
This is the second consecutive day that the country has reported over two lakh cases.
Sectorally, BSE healthcare, utilities, consumer durables, power and basic materials indices rose up to 1.88 per cent, while bankex, capital goods, realty, energy and finance nursed losses.
Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices outperformed the benchmark and rallied up to 1.17 per cent.
On the global markets front, US stock benchmarks Dow Jones and S&P 500 soared to record highs in the overnight session, buoyed by sliding bond yields and positive macroeconomic data.
Asian markets rallied after China posted a record 18.3 per cent GDP growth in the first quarter of 2021, aided by a low base effect as well as strong domestic and foreign demand.
Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with gains in mid-session deals.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 979.70 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.