Indian shares edged higher on Friday to post their biggest weekly gains in more than four months as public sector banks such as State Bank of India advanced, while a modest recovery in European stocks supported investor sentiment.
Domestic sentiment was also buoyed as investors took comfort from Moody’s statement that Indian economy will grow at 7.5 per cent and is less exposed to external headwinds.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended higher by 59.93 points or 0.25 per cent at 23,709.15 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended up by 19 points or 0.26 per cent at 7,210.75.
Among BSE sectoral indices, auto index was up 0.87 per cent, followed by TECk 0.56 per cent, power 0.41 per cent and IT 0.4 per cent. On the other hand, oil & gas index fell the most by 1.00 per cent, followed by capital goods 0.16 per cent and healthcare 0.01 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were State Bank of India (+3.2%), Hero MotoCorp (+3.2%), Asian Paints (+2.17%), Bajaj Auto (+2.14%) and NTPC (+1.84%), while the major losers were Maruti (-2.02%), BHEL (-1.83%), Coal India (-1.5%), Axis Bank (-1.37%) and Dr Reddy's (-1.06%).
European shares steadied on Friday at the end of a strong week with a bounce in banking stocks and some solid earnings updates underpinning the market.
By 0906 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 had risen 0.02 per cent to 1,294 points. The index is up 5 per cent so far this week and set for its best five days since January 2015, buoyed by a recovery in the price of oil from record lows
A report by SMC Global said: " Asian stocks fell today, paring the biggest weekly rally since December 2011, as the yen strengthened and a build-up in oil supplies dragged crude prices and energy producers lower. US stocks fell on Thursday, as tepid earnings and declines in energy shares put the brakes on a three-day rally. Driven primarily by steep drops in stock prices and weakness in initial jobless claims, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing a modest decrease by its index of leading US economic indicators in the month of January. The Conference Board said its leading economic index edged down by 0.2 per cent in January following a revised 0.3 per cent decrease in December. The modest drop by the index matched economist estimates."
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors net bought shares worth Rs 418.64 crore yesterday.