A bounceback in IT stocks after their recent slide, and report of Blackstone investment in Cipla boosting pharma stocks helped 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex gain 480 points or 0.74% to settle at 65,721. The broader NSE Nifty surged 135 points or 0.70% to end at 19,517.
From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and Airtel were the top gainers, rising 2-3%. HCL Tech, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and Reliance Industries also closed with gains. On the flip side, SBI closed 3% lower post Q1 results. NTPC, Maruti, Bajaj Finserv, and Power Grid also ended lower.
Among individual stocks, Zomato ended nearly 11% higher after the food delivery platform turned profitable with Rs 2 crore-PAT in Q1 FY24. Shares of Cipla also ended 4% lower after ET reported that PE fund Blackstone may acquire the entire 33.47% promoter stake in the pharma major.
On the sectoral front, Nifty IT rose 1.55% and Nifty Pharma advanced 0.94%. Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Bank also closed higher. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap100 gained 0.82%, and Smallcap100 rose 0.76%.
Meanwhile, the market capitalisation of all listed companies on BSE surged by Rs 1.8 lakh crore to Rs 304.09 lakh crore. The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls. About 2,236 stocks gained, 1,331 declined, and 153 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Expert Views“Positive earnings reports provided a much-needed boost to the domestic market, aiding its recovery from the impact of weak global cues. The pharma sector sustained its positive momentum, with the trend being extended by the IT and banking stocks,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
“However, increasing US bond yields continued to distract the global market, impeding the inflow of foreign funds into the domestic market,” Nair added.
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said, “On a weekly basis, the Nifty has fallen 0.66% and the large upper and lower shadows on the weekly candlestick denote the tug of war between bulls and bears. On a near term basis, the Nifty could stay in the 19655-19296 band while on a short term basis, it could stay in the 19796 – 19201 band.”
Global Markets
Asian markets were mixed on Friday at the end of a volatile week, with a fresh spike in US Treasury yields weighing on Wall Street and traders still concerned about the Federal Reserve’s interest rate plans.
Tokyo, Sydney, Wellington, Mumbai and Bangkok also rose. However, Singapore, Seoul, Manila, Jakarta and Taipei were in the red.
European stocks steadied on Friday, after a recent selloff, as strong results from retail giant Amazon and a host of other companies outweighed recent jitters around slowing economic growth across the continent. The pan-European STOXX 600 index edged up 0.1% after shedding about 3% in the past three sessions.
Rupee Weakens
Indian rupee weakened to a fresh two-and-half-month low on Friday, which led to its biggest weekly drop in a month, due to the selloff in Asian currencies after Fitch downgraded the US sovereign rating.
The rupee ended 0.14% lower at 82.84 per dollar, taking its loss for the week to 0.7%, which is its worst weekly drop since the week ending July 7.
Oil prices rise
Oil prices were on track for a sixth week of gains after Saudi Arabia and Russia — the world’s second and third-largest crude producers — pledged to cut output through September.
Brent crude futures for October rose 66 cents to $85.80 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude for September was up 66 cents to $82.21.
