Sensex rises 196 points

Market benchmark Sensex on Friday rose over 196 points to end at 36,064 and also posted its second straight weekly gains amid signs of easing tensions between India and Pakistan.

The key BSE index also snapped its three-session losing run after the March derivatives series got off to a strong start coupled with uninterrupted foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share Sensex opened positive and rallied to the session’s high of 36,140.67 on widespread buying by participants. However, profit-booking in select counters trimmed the gains as the gauge settled 196.37 points, or 0.55%, higher at 36,063.81. It had lost over 346 points in the previous three sessions due to geo-political tensions between India and Pakistan.

The NSE Nifty, after hitting a high of 10,877.90, closed at 10,863.50, up 71 points, or 0.66%. Intra-day, it fell to a low of 10,823.10.

For the week, the BSE Sensex rose 192.33 points, or 0.57%, while the broader NSE Nifty gained 71.35 points, or 0.69%. This was the second straight weekly gains for the index.

Investor sentiment revived amid signs of easing geopolitical tensions after Pakistan on Thursday said it would release captured Indian Air Force pilot as a “first step” to open negotiations with India.

Investors indulged in creating new positions following the beginning of the March futures and options (F&O) series that led to the rally in the market.

Financial, capital goods, IT, power and oil and gas sector stocks hogged the limelight and helped indices to reclaim their key level.

IndusInd Bank emerged top performers among Sensex constituents by surging 3.04%, followed by Yes Bank 2.68%. Other prominent gainers included Vedanta Ltd, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, SBI, Tata Steel, NTPC, Infosys, HDFC Ltd, L&T, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finance, ITC Ltd, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, PowerGrid, M&M, HUL, ONGC and HDFC Bank, rising up to 2.24%.

Maruti Suzuki rose 1.48% even as the country’s largest car maker reported a marginal decline in total sales in February. Bajaj Auto fell 1.16% after the company on Friday reported a 10% increase in total sales in February.

Bharti Airtel, Asian Paint and RIL also ended in the red.

All the BSE sectoral indices ended in the green with infrastructure climbing the most by 1.99%, PSU 1.85%, metal 1.57%, capital goods 1.37%, power 1.10%, bankex 0.98%, healthcare 0.92%, IT 0.69%, teck 0.58%, FMCG 0.51%, and realty 0.01%.

The broader markets too displayed a firm trend as the BSE small-cap index surged 2.13% and the mid-caps gained 1.29%.

Markets will remain closed on Monday on account of Mahashivratri.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, FIIs bought shares worth Rs 3,210.6 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 5,240.62 crore on Thursday, provisional data showed.

On the macro-economic front, however, traders looked somewhat hesitant after country’s economic growth slowed down to a five-quarter low of 6.6% in October-December period, analysts said.

Economic growth estimate for the current fiscal year ending March 31 has been revised downwards to 7% from the earlier estimate of 7.2%. This is the lowest growth in the last five years.

The rupee weakened by 20 paise to close at 70.92 against the US dollar on Friday amid strengthening of the American currency and rising crude oil prices. Brent crude surging to USD 66.55 per barrel, capped gains to some extent.

Elsewhere, in rest of Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index rallied 1.81%, Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.02%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 0.63% and Straits Times edfged up 0.20%.

Among european markets, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 1.15%, while Paris CAC 40 advanced 0.73% in their early deals. London’s FTSE too up by 0.66%.