Sensex soars above 62K-mark on gains in banking, auto stocks
Mumbai: Benchmark BSE Sensex recovered from early lows to close at a five-month high on Friday, riding on gains in banking and auto stocks ahead of the release of key inflation data.
The 30-share index gained 123.38 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 62,027.90, the highest closing level since December 12, 2022.
The barometer opened lower due to early weakness in energy, power and IT stocks and touched a low of 61,578.15 in the day trade. Later, it rebounded on buying in financial and auto shares to hit a high of 62,110.93 points.
The broader NSE Nifty edged up 17.80 points or 0.10 per cent to close at 18,314.80 points. The 50-stock index rose by 245.8 points on weekly basis, marking its third straight week of gains.
Among Sensex scrips, Mahindra and Mahindra rose the most by 1.92 per cent. IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HUL, Bajaj Finance and HCL Tech were among the other gainers.
PowerGrid fell the most by 2.67 per cent, followed by NTPC (2.34 per cent) and Tata Steel (1.43 per cent). Ultratech Cement, Nestle, Sun Pharma, Infosys, L&T, Kotak Bank, TCS and Wipro also declined.
In the broader market, BSE smallcap index dropped by 0.08 per cent while BSE midcap fell 0.33 per cent.
Among major sectoral gainers, BSE Auto advanced 0.93 per cent, Bankex by 0.73 per cent, and Financial Services by 0.42 per cent.
On other other hand, BSE Utilities dropped 1.83 per cent, Metal by 1.69 per cent, Oil & Gas by 1.13 per cent, Power by 1.19 per cent, Commodities by 0.99 per cent, and Energy by 0.77 per cent.
Market breadth was negative as out of 3,638 stocks traded, 1,653 stocks advanced, 1,865 dropped and 120 closed unchanged on BSE.
Falling for the second straight session, the rupee depreciated by 9 paise to 82.18 against the US dollar on Friday, as a strong greenback overseas weighed on investor sentiments.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.45 per cent to $74.59 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,014.06 crore, according to exchange data.
