Domestic indices remained volatile on Friday, but surged in the last trading hour, ahead of the June quarter GDP numbers, that were scheduled to be released later in the day. Further, reports of a likely announcement by the Finance Ministry on merger of public sector banks (PSBs) increased buying interest at the counters. That apart, hopes of face-to-face trade talks between the United States and China helped ease market sentiment.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex settled 264 points, or 0.71 per cent, higher at 37,333 level, lifted by HDFC twins, ITC, ICICI Bank, and Hindustan Unilever. All the index heavyweights were up in the range of 1-3 per cent. YES Bank, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, and Tata Steel ended the day as top gainers, while Power Grid, ONGC, HCL Tech, and Larsen and Toubro closed as top laggards. Meanwhile, the broader Nifty50 ended at 11,023-mark, up 75 points or 0.68 per cent.
Sectorally, all the indices ended in the green. Nifty Pharma index ended the day as top gainer, up 2.4 per cent, followed by Nifty Metal index, up 1.8 per cent.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index closed at 13,468 level, up 134 points, or 1.01 per cent. The S&P BSE SmallCap index closed at 12,535 level, up 104 points, or 0.84 per cent.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to address media later in the day, where she is likely to announce mega plan for merging multiple set of public sector banks (PSB).
The department of financial services in the finance ministry called a meeting, on Friday, with chief executives of ten public sector banks which are seen as top contenders for merger. The banks invited for consultations on Friday are: Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, United Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, United Bank, Allahabad Bank, Corporation Bank, Syndicate Bank and Andhra Bank.
Shares of PSBs were trading mixed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday afternoon. Oriental Bank of Commerce, Central Bank of India, Syndicate Bank and Allahabad Bank were up in the range of 3 per cent to 6 per cent on the NSE. On the other hand, State Bank of India (SBI), Union Bank of India, Bank of India, Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda were down between 1 and 2 per cent.
HDFC AMC, Infosys, Bata India, Asian Paints, Berger Paints among BSE500 index stocks that hit record highs in today’s session.
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Markets ended flat on Friday dragged by uncertainty over announcement of any revival package by the government and weak global cues. Indices remained lacklustre for better part of the day, only to turn volatile in the afternoon trading session.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex settled with gains of 39 points, or 0.10 per cent, at 37,350 levels led by banking and automobile stocks. The gains were, however, capped by losses in the technology and metal scrips. Power Grid, Maruti Suzuki, YES Bank, and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers at the 30-share index, while TCS, Vedanta, HCL Tech, and HDFC were the top laggards. The broader Nifty50, too, closed at 11,048-mark, up 18 points or 0.17 per cent.
Sectorally, public sector banks gained the most, with the Nifty PSU Bank index closing 1.5 per cent higher. This was followed by Nifty auto index, up 1.15 per cent. Nifty IT and pharma indices ended with cuts of 0.65 per cent and 0.77 per cent, respectively.
In the intra-day trade, the Sensex and Nifty50 slumped to lows of 36,974 and 10,924 levels, down 337 points and 105 points respectively.
In the broader market, S&P BSE mid-cap ended the day at 13,491 level, up 14 points or 0.10 per cent. Further, S&P BSE small-cap settled at 12,585 level, up 14 points, or 0.11 per cent.
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Indices remained buoyed on Friday, ahead of the government’s meeting with foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and representatives from the financial sector, which was scheduled later in the day. Sentiment was further strengthened on reports that government could approach the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council to relieve the auto-industry from tax payment for three-six months along with measures to relieve real estate sector.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex soared 480 points intra-day to 37,807.5 level, while the Nifty50 zoomed 149 points to 11,181 mark.
At close, the Sensex settled 255 points, or 0.68 per cent, higher at 37,582 levels lifted by gains in auto and banking counters. Maruti Suzuki, Vedanta, Bajaj Finance, and HDFC Bank were the top gainers while YES Bank, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, and ITC were the top laggards. The broader Nifty50, too, ended at 11,110 mark, up 77 points, or 0.7 per cent.
Sectorally, metal, information technology (IT), pharma and public sector bank (PSBs) indices ended in the red while auto, private bank, realty, and FMCG scrips ended with gains. Nifty auto index was the top gainers, up 2 per cent, while Nifty metal index slipped 0.68 per cent.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE mid-cap index ended 104 points, or 0.77 per cent, higher at 13,670 level. The S&P BSE small-cap index, on the other hand, settled 125 points, or 1 per cent, higher at 12,699 level.
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Continuing with their lacklustre performance for the third straight day, the equity benchmark indices settled on a flat note on Friday. While the day witnessed solid buying in bluechips such as Reliance Industries (RIL), HCL Tech, HDFC Bank and TCS, the gains in the index were capped by drubbing in counters including Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel and L&T.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended just 13 points higher at 36,387, while NSE’s Nifty50 index held the crucial 10,900 level to close at 10,907, up 2 points. On a weekly basis, both the indices ended 1 per cent higher.
Sectorally, barring IT, all other indices ended in the red with the pharma stocks bleeding the most. The Nifty Pharma pack lost nearly 3 per cent to end the day at 8,690.
Shares of pharma bellwether Sun Pharma crashed to their six year- low of Rs 375.40 apiece in the early trade on Friday after news reports suggested fresh whistleblower documents were sent to Sebi. The stock plunged as much as 12 per cent on BSE. The company, however, in a BSE filing clarified that it was not privy to the news reported by MoneyLife. The stock, eventually, ended nearly 9 per cent lower at Rs 390.75.
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On Thursday, the benchmark indices fell for the third consecutive session, settling over 0.5 per cent lower led by fall in banking and metal stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 34,981, down 219 points or 0.6 per cent, while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,527, down 73 points or 0.7 per cent.
The BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) are closed for trade on Friday, on account of Gurunanak Jayanti. All wholesale commodity markets, including metal and bullion, are also closed. The forex and commodity futures markets, too, will not trade.
It was a negative end for the market in this truncated week with the Nifty giving up 10,550-mark.
Private banks were major contributors to the Nifty Bank’s underperformance. Telecom pack, too, saw some pressure. Consumption, energy, metals, and pharma saw the most losses after banks, while selling was visible in the midcaps space.
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The markets settled at their five-week lows as PSU banks and metal stocks tanked, while escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea continued to drive investors away from risk assets.
The Nifty PSU Bank index dipped nearly 5% after Oriental Bank, Union Bank of India and State Bank of India fell 5% each post disappointing earnings for the June quarter. Meanwhile, volatility index India VIX hit its highest in six months, suggesting market participants expect major volatility on the Nifty over the next thirty days.
Benchmark indices ended the session and the week on a negative note, with indices seeing big cuts in the day’s trade.
The Sensex closed down 317.74 points at 31213.59, while the Nifty ended lower by 109.45 points at 9710.80. The market breadth was negative as 1,003 shares advanced against a decline of 1,525 shares, while 135 shares were unchanged.
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Benchmark indices settled on a flat note tracking mixed cues from global peers after ECB unexpectedly reduced its monthly asset buys but pledged to keep its quantitative easing (QE) program beyond 2017, if needed. Nifty saw the biggest weekly gain since the first week of September and comfortably maintained its crucial 8250 levels in today’s session.
S&P BSE Sensex settled the day 53 points higher at 26,747 while Nifty50 gained 15 points to end at 8,262. In broader markets, BSE Midcap gained 0.21% while BSE small cap was up 0.52%.
Banking sector gained after RBI reversed its order forcing lenders to surrender all their extra cash and place it under the cash reserve ratio.
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