Sensex vaults 269 points to reclaim 36K-mark; Nifty ends above 10,800

Benchmark indices surged for the third straight session on Friday on across-the-board buying by foreign funds amid a rebound in the rupee and upbeat global cues.

The BSE Sensex rallied 269.44 points or 0.75 per cent to finish at 36,076.72, while the broader NSE Nifty spurted 80.10 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 10,859.90.

During the week, the Sensex gained 334.65 points, while the Nifty advanced 105.9 points.

Apart from telecom, all sectoral indices on the BSE finished in the green in Friday’s session, led by consumer durables and healthcare.

The biggest gainers in the Sensex pack were Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, Vedanta, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Tata Motors, HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank, rising up to 2.98 per cent.

On the other hand, TCS, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid and Infosys shed up to 0.70 per cent.

The gains were led by banking stocks, which rallied on reports that the government was likely to infuse Rs 28,615 crore into seven public sector banks (PSBs) through recapitalisation bonds by the end of this month. Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, SBI and Kotak Bank gained up to 2 per cent.

“Nifty ended this week above 10,800 mark led by banking and FMCG stocks. The domestic sentiment remained optimistic with reports that the government is contemplating several incentives for farmers ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” said Hemang Jani, head (advisory), Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

The rupee, meanwhile, strengthened against the US dollar and was trading 37 paise higher at 69.98. Brent crude futures rose 1.95 per cent to USD 53.76 per barrel.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,731.91 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 663.00 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea’s Kospi ended 0.62 per cent higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.09 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.44 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.31 per cent.

In Europe, Paris CAC rose 1.47 per cent, while Frankfurt’s DAX fell 1.56 per cent. London’s FTSE gained 1.67 per cent.

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National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)