Sensex closes above 31,000 for first time ever, up almost 2% for the week

S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices gained 2% and 1.6% respectively

Markets continued their bull run to settle at fresh closing highs on Friday with the S&P BSE Sensex scaling past the 31,000-mark and the broader Nifty50index hitting 9600-mark for the first time ever as higher derivatives rollover led to strong follow-up buying in index heavyweights on the first day of June series.
 
Settling at fresh closing high, the 30-share Sensex ended at 31,028, up 278 points. The index was up 1.8% for the week. On the other hand, Nifty50 also ended at new peak of 9,595, up 85 points with a weekly gain of 1.7%.

"Market touched another milestone supported by continued buying interest on index heavy weights post expiry. Expectation on good monsoon & a slow pace in interest rate hike by FED continue to weigh the sentiment. Mid & small caps outperformed as recent correction scaled down the valuation gap with large caps, this gave an entry point for those who missed the opportunity," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services in a note.

 

Both frontline indices peaked fresh highs at intra-day level also. The S&P BSE Sensex rallied as much as 324 points to hit its new high of 31,074 surpassing its previous peak of 30,793 reached yesterday, while the broader Nifty50 gained 95 points to touch its fresh high of 9,592, overriding the previous milestone of 9,432, hit on May 17.
 
Broader market outperformed benchmark indices with the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices gaining 2% and 1.6% respectively.
 
"The broader markets have recovered after days of sell-off and the positve sentiment has rubbed off on the friontline indices as well. Dovish stance of the US Federal Reserve in its last meeting as regards interest rates also aided sentiment," said Ankur Varman, AVP - Institutional Equity sales at SBI Capital Markets. He expects Nifty50 to hit 9,800 by June-end.

 
Buzzing Stocks
 
Index heavyweights lifted the rally with Reliance Industries gaining 2.7%. Tata Steel surged as much as 5.9% to Rs 514, its highest since September 2014. The stock ended 5.4% higher.
 
Maruti Suzuki, up 1.3% which reported its results for the quarter ended March last month has been on an uptrend since then. The stock has rallied over 30% so far in the year 2017.
 
Among losers, Videocon Industries which shed 10% continued to nosedive for the third consecutive session as investors continued to dump the stock. The scrip hit its lower circuit again in the opening minutes. Bearishness in the stock has continued following banks’ declaring the company’s debt as a non-performing asset. Dena Bank and Central Bank of India declared the company as an NPA on their books.

 
Cipla fell 3%, to its eleven-month low after posting a quarterly loss against analysts' expectations.
 
Global Markets
 
Globally, Asian stocks fell, prompting a move away from riskier assets after an OPEC agreement to extend cuts in crude production for further nine months disappointed investors who had bet on bigger output cuts.
 
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which closed at a two-year high on Thursday, fell 0.2%, shrinking its weekly gain to 1.45%. Japan's Nikkei closed 0.6% lower.
 
China's CSI 300 slid 0.2% heading for a 2.2% increase for the week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat, on track for a weekly gain of 1.8%.

(with Reuters inputs)