Indian shares posted their first daily gains in four sessions on Friday after a government report on the economy released days before the unveiling of the 2016/17 federal budget contained few surprises.
The Economic Survey from the Finance Ministry called for fiscal prudence and stable inflation, while acknowledging the risks to growth, although it also called for a review of India's medium-term fiscal strategy.
The benchmark BSE Sensex jumped nearly 180 points as the
This is in line with the Central Statistics Office’s estimates predicting 7.6 per cent growth in the fiscal.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended higher by 178.30 points or 0.78 per cent at 23,154.30 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended up by 59.15 points or 0.85 per cent at 7,029.75.
Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index gained the most by 1.61 per cent, followed by banking 1.51 per cent, realty 1.47 per cent and capital goods 1.12 per cent. On the other hand, healthcare index was down 0.31 per cent, followed by consumer durables 0.16 per cent, and auto 0.08 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Coal India (+3.96%), State Bank of India (+2.86%), NTPC (+2.41%), L&T (+2.19%) and Axis Bank (+1.81%), while the major losers were Bajaj Auto (-3.49%), Hero MotoCorp (-2.41%), Lupin (-1.73%), Bharti Airtel (-1.52%) and GAIL (-0.44%).
A report by SMC Global said: "Asian stocks rallied, on track for their second straight weekly gain, with China's central bank saying it sees room for monetary easing as a meeting of the Group of 20 finance chiefs discusses coordination of stimulus efforts. US stocks rose for a second consecutive day, drifting higher Thursday as oil prices rebounded from early losses.The UK economy expanded at a slightly faster pace as estimated at the end of 2015 on consumer spending, while global slowdown weighed on exports and investment. Gross domestic product grew 0.5 per cent sequentially, unrevised from the preliminary estimate, data published by the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday. Growth was slightly faster than the 0.4 per cent expansion seen in the third quarter. On a yearly basis, GDP expanded 1.9 per cent in the fourth quarter, unrevised from the estimate issued on January 28."
Stock markets gained for the third day in five on Friday as G20 policymakers meeting in Shanghai sought common ground on how to reboot a struggling global economy in the face of renewed financial and political risks.
European equities extended the previous session's strong rally to a three-week high on Friday, with stronger miners on the back of firmer metals prices and some encouraging company updates supporting the market.
Asian shares made guarded gains on Friday as a gathering of world finance leaders provided a welter of reassuring comments, but little in the way of actual policy stimulus.