BHUBANESWAR: Indian markets seem to have gathered momentum after snapping their two-day losing streak, with benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 scaling fresh lifetime highs on Friday. The rally was led by uninterrupted buying from domestic institutional investors amid positive global cues.
While Sensex rebounded by over 284 points (0.75 per cent) to close at 37,947.88, Nifty 50 climbed 85.70 points (0.75 per cent), to end at a new record of 11,470.75. It surpassed its previous closing high of 11,470.70 on August 9. In intraday trade, Sensex hit the day’s high of 38,022.32 on a flurry of buying. Provisional data shows domestic institutional investors bought shares worth `133.78 crore while foreign portfolio investors sold equities worth `825.08 crore.
“The markets are largely ignoring the rhetoric of global trade wars and rupee depreciation (read dollar appreciation). Quality stocks are seeing more buying interest on every smaller fall, in turn making those more expensive and taking markets to new highs,” said Devang Mehta, Head (Equity Advisory), Centrum Wealth Management.
Among the sectoral indices, all except oil and gas finished with gains, led by metal, FMCG, realty, auto and banking. ITC, Yes Bank, SBI, Vedanta, HUL, Tata Motors, ITC, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank were among the top gainers, rising up to 3.76 per cent, while the major losers were Hero MotoCorp, Maruti, ONGC, Coal India and Bajaj Auto.Mehta said the one characteristic of the market from here on will be intermittent bouts of volatility, which investors need to utilise tactfully for creation and realigning of portfolios.
Asian shares too won a modest reprieve, led by Japan stocks, on easing trade tensions between the US and China as well as recovery of Turkey’s lira. Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.5 per cent, while stocks in Seoul and Hong Kong were also higher. However, the Chinese share markets were hardly impressive, with the Shanghai composite index falling 1.3 per cent. In contrast, European shares were lower as investors’ worries about the European Bank’s exposure to Turkey came in line with the expectations.