Bourses log gains for sixth day straight, Sensex climbs 104 pts
Mumbai: The Sensex and Nifty defied gravity for the sixth session on the trot on Friday as healthy corporate earnings and fresh foreign fund inflows offset negative cues from global markets.
Recovering after a sharp sell-off in later afternoon trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 104.25 points or 0.18 per cent higher at 59,307.15.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 12.35 points or 0.07 per cent to 17,576.30.
Axis Bank was the star performer among the Sensex constituents, soaring 8.96 per cent after the company on Thursday reported a 66.29 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit for the September quarter at Rs 5,625.25 crore, driven by a substantial decrease in bad loan provisions and margin expansion.
The other major winners from the 30-share pack were ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nestle India, Titan and UltraTech Cement.
However, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, ITC and Reliance Industries were among the laggards, shedding as much as 3.20 per cent.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex climbed 1,387.18 points or 2.39 per cent, while the Nifty gained 390.60 points or 2.27 per cent.
In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.75 per cent and smallcap index fell by 0.60 per cent on Friday.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, bankex jumped 2.07 per cent, financial services climbed 0.61 per cent and realty ended marginally higher by 0.10 per cent.
However, capital goods declined 1.12 per cent, industrials tumbled 1.07 per cent, commodities fell by 0.88 per cent, metal went lower by 0.89 per cent and power dipped 0.74 per cent.
In other Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong ended lower, while Shanghai closed with gains.
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading lower in mid-session deals. Wall Street had ended lower on Thursday.
International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.37 per cent lower at $92.02 per barrel.
The rupee depreciated by 9 paise to sattle at 82.88 against the US dollar on Friday.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the market on Thursday after many sessions, picking up shares worth Rs 1,864.79 crore, as per exchange data.
