The bulls continued to dominate the markets on Friday, thanks to a healthy buying on the financial counters. The S&P BSE Sensex won for the sixth consecutive session to settle at 39,467 levels, an increase of 354 points or 0.9 percent.
NSE’s Nifty finished 11,648.88 points or 0.76 percent higher. The volatility index, India VIX, continued to decline, ending at 18.24 levels, down almost 3.5 percent.
Among individual stocks, IndusInd Bank (over 8 percent) finished as the top winner on the Sensex, followed by Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Sun Pharma. On the other hand, Power Grid (down more than 1 percent) finished as the biggest loser in the index.
On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 2.6 percent, while Nifty added 2.4 percent.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap Index gained 0.55 percent to 15,238 levels, while the S&P BSE SmallCap Index finished at 14,990.55, down 0.23 percent.
Among the NSE industry indices, Nifty Bank rallied nearly 1,000 points or more than 4 percent to 24,588.95. All 12 components of the index ended in green. READ MORE
Vibrant actions
NMDC’s shares ended around 12% higher at Rs 107.50 each on the BSE, one day after the company reported its financial results for the quarter ending June 2020 (Q1FY21). READ MORE
Telecommunications stocks advanced on the stock markets. Telecommunications companies are awaiting the Supreme Court ruling in the adjusted gross income (AGR) case. After several rounds of hearings, on Monday, the supreme court reserved its ruling in the case. On the last day of the hearing, the court had observed that if the telecommunications companies are not willing to pay their fees, it would order the Union government to cancel their spectrum allocation and license. READ MORE
Global markets
Global stocks struggled to get their bearings on Friday as investors were concerned about the lack of detail in the US Federal Reserve’s policy change, while Japanese markets rocked when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned over health reasons.
The Fed’s long-awaited change in its policy framework caused the central bank to put more emphasis on boosting economic growth and less on concerns about letting inflation rise too high. The policy aims for inflation of 2% on average, so that too low a pace is followed by an effort to raise inflation “moderately above 2% for some time.”
Asian stocks outside of Japan limped up, with the broader MSCI Asia-Pacific stock index outside Japan gaining 0.19 percent.
Oil prices fell as Storm Laura rushed inland beyond the heart of the American oil industry in Louisiana and Texas without causing any widespread damage to refineries.
(With input from Reuters)
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