Stocks: The Sensex extended its gains for the second straight week, surging 211 points to end at 25,838.14 on persistent buying mainly in Metal, Banking, Realty and Consumer Durable sectors on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may further cut policy rates.
The Sensex gained in three out of the four sessions of the week.
Persistent foreign capital inflows also boosted the market sentiment.
Positive macroeconomic data, including a cooling inflation, and a forecast of an above-normal monsoon this year, kindling hopes of a higher growth and more policy easing by the RBI, boosted market sentiment.
Wholesale price-based inflation in March remained in the negative zone for the 17th month in a row at (-)0.85 per cent even as prices of some food articles, mainly pulses, turned costlier.
The Sensex resumed higher at 25,833.16 and rose to a 16 -week high of 26,080.07. But fell afterwards to 25,634.12 before ending the week at 25,838.14, still showing a gain of 211.39 points or 0.82 per cent. It has gained by 1,164.30 points of 4.72 per cent in two weeks.
The Sensex had last touched 26,166.52 on January 4, 2016 during the intra-day trade.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also rose by 48.85 points or 0.62 per cent to close the week at 7,899.30 after touching 7,978.45 during the week. The Nifty has gained 344.10 points or 4.55 per cent in two weeks.
The Nifty had last touched 7,979.30 on December 2, 2015.
The second-largest IT services company, Infosys, rose by 3.57 per cent after it posted 16.2 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 3,597 crore for the March quarter.
However, TCS stock tumbled 4.20 per cent after a US grand
jury awarded Epic Systems USD 940 million in damages against it and another group company Tata America International Corp in a trade secret lawsuit.
Banking stocks firmed up on reports that the RBI trimmed the list of companies required for bad loan provisioning.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 2,163.87 crore during the week as per Sebi's record including the provisional figure of April 22.
Stock markets remained closed on Tuesday, April 19, on account of 'Mahavir Jayanti'.
In the broader market, the BSE mid-cap index rose by 102.34 points or 0.94 per cent to settle at 11,018.64 and the BSE small-cap index also rose by 135.82 points or 1.24 per cent to end at 11,078.84. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
Among the S&P, BSE sector and industry indices, Metal rose 4.76 per cent, followed by Realty 4.08 per cent, Consumer Durables 2.07 per cent, Capital Goods 1.01 per cent, Power 0.81 per cent and Oil&Gas 0.66 per cent.
However, FMCG declined by 0.68 per cent and Auto 0.26 per cent.
From the 30-share Sensex pack, 17 stocks rose, while 13 ended lower during the week.
Major gainers include Axis Bank (7.69 per cent), Tata Steel (6.37 per cent), ICICI Bank (4.54 per cent), NTPC (4.37 per cent), SBIN (4.25 per cent), Coal India (3.90 per cent), Cipla (3.86 per cent), Infosys (3.57 per cent), Larsen (2.23 per cent), Maruti (2.22 per cent), Tata Motors (2.06 per cent) HDFC (1.42 per cent) and HDFC Bank (1.02 per cent).
Wipro fell by 4.60 per cent followed by Hero Motoco 4.59 per cent, Bhel 4.24 per cent, TCS 4.20 per cent, Reliance 2.51 per cent, Bajaj Auto 2.31 per cent, ITC 1.59 per cent, Sun Pharma 1.39 per cent, Hindunilever 1.25 per cent and Adani ports 1.09 per cent.
The total turnover at BSE and NSE rose to Rs 10,743.69 crore and Rs 75,491.52 crore, respectively, as against last weekend's level of Rs 8,967.91 crore and Rs 50,353.08 crore.
Forex: Snapping its last two-week losing streak against
the American currency, the rupee recovered by 16 paise to close at 66.48 per dollar on fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters on the back of fresh foreign capital inflows amid persistent rise in equity market.
Positive macroeconomic data, including a cooling inflation and a forecast of an above-normal monsoon this year, kindling hopes of a higher growth and more policy easing by RBI boosted the equity market as well as forex market.
The rupee resumed steady at 66.63 per dollar against last weekend's level of 66.64 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and hovered in a wide range of 66.10 per dollar and 66.71 per dollar before concluding the week at 66.48 per dollar, showing a gain of 16 paise or 0.24 per cent.
The domestic currency had dropped by 38 paise or 0.57 per cent in previous two weeks.
In New York, the US dollar rose to its highest level against the yen in three weeks after a report said the Bank of Japan is considering expanding its negative rate policy to bank loans and could cut rates further.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.52 percent at 95.087 after hitting a more than one-week high of 95.196.
Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark Sensex rose further by 211.39 points or 0.82 per cent to end the week at 25,838.14.
In the New York Comex trade, gold for delivery in August
eased to USD 1,323.40 an ounce compared to last Friday's close of USD 1,327.40 and silver for September contracts also dropped to USD 19.689 an ounce from USD 20.165.
On the domestic front, standard gold (99.5 purity) resumed lower at Rs 30,850 per ten grams from last Friday's closing level of Rs 30,935 and drifted further to Rs 30,695 before concluding at Rs 30,835, revealing a modest loss of Rs 100, or 0.32 per cent.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also commenced sluggish at Rs 31,000 per ten grams compared to preceding weekend level of Rs 31,085 and fell Rs 30,845 before ending at Rs 30,985, showing a fall of Rs 100, or 0.32 per cent.
Silver ready (.999 fineness) opened sharply lower at Rs 47,125 per kilo gram from last Friday's closing level of Rs 47,550 and dropped further to Rs 45,970 before closing at Rs 46,820, revealing a fall of Rs 730, or 1.53 per cent.
