Nifty ends flat after hitting 23K mark, logs gain of 2% for a second week

Foreign portfolio investor (FPI) sold shares worth Rs 945 crore on Friday

Indian equity benchmarks ended Friday's session flat, but Nifty's benchmark crossed the 23,000-mark for the first time.

The Nifty ended the session at 22,957, a decline of 11 points or 0.05 per cent. The Sensex ended the session at 75,410, a decline of 8 points or 0.01 per cent. During the week, the Nifty gained 2.02 per cent, and the Sensex rose 1.96 per cent. This was the second straight week when the Nifty gained 2 per cent. Previously, it had risen more than 2 per cent during a week in early February.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 945 crore on Friday. A day earlier, they had pumped in more than Rs 4,000 crore, sending the benchmark indices higher by over 1.6 per cent.

 

The generous payout by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the government and easing election jitters have boosted investor sentiment this week.

The RBI board declared a substantial Rs 2.11 trillion dividend to the government for 2023-24, surpassing analysts' and the government's expectations of Rs 1.02 trillion.

This unexpected windfall is expected to provide the government with more room for its spending requirements and reduce the fiscal deficit. Banks, which have a high weightage in the benchmark indices, are expected to benefit as the RBI's move is likely to lead to treasury gains.

Moreover, Prime Minister Modi's repeated assertions about the ruling coalition winning comfortably and markets rallying after the election results have also enthused investors.

"Easing in FPI selling and healthy domestic macro data supported the positive sentiment in the market. Overall, we expect the market to witness a gradual up-move and see some volatility next week as both the election and earnings season are nearing the end," said Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.