Sensex, Nifty post biggest weekly gain in 8 months; Airtel rallies 4.8%
Benchmark indices settled the day on a higher note, extending gains for the fourth day straight, as investors remain optimistic ahead of the Union Budget next week. Better than expected corporate earnings also aided the sentiment.
Nifty, Sensex posted their biggest weekly gains since May 27, led by gains in banking and financial stocks.
ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, SBI and NTPC were the top gainers on BSE Sensex while ITC, Wipro, Lupin and HUL were the top losers.
ITC fell 2.8% even as its December quarter beat estimates with net profit rising 5.7% to Rs 2650 crore from Rs 2504 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Financial stocks were the talk of the day as banking and financial services index gained 1.25% and 1.65% respectively.
ICICI Bank gained the most on Nifty Bank followed by Bank of Baroda, PNB, SBI and Axis Bank.
The BSE Metal, Oil & Gas, Power along with Utility and Energy indices hit their respective 52-week highs on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), after a sharp rally in public sector undertaking (PSU) stocks of these sectors.
Hindalco Industries, National Aluminium (Nalco) and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) from metal, Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Gail (India) and Indraprastha Gas (IGL) from oil & gas, Power Grid Corporation, Cairn India and NLC India from the power, utility and energy index has touched 52-week highs on the BSE in intra-day trade.
