Sensex, Nifty soar to 2-week highs on gains in Infy, RIL

Mumbai, November 12

Stock market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty rallied to a two-week high on Friday on heavy buying in index majors Infosys, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries after three days of losses and a positive trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex spurted by 767 points or 1.28 per cent to close at 60,686.69 points with 25 of its stocks ending with gains.

The broader Nifty of the National Stock Exchange jumped by 229.15 points or 1.28 per cent to settle at 18,102.75, the highest closing level since October 27. Gains in IT, realty and energy stocks helped indices break three-day losing run.

Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 4 per cent, followed by HDFC, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finance.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel and Axis Bank were among the laggards.

“The momentum which was lost during the week was regained as inflation worries started fading with investors shifting their focus to good quarterly earnings, economic recovery and strong domestic macro data points,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

All sectoral indices ended with gains. BSE teck, IT, telecom, realty, power rose up to 2.03 per cent.

Broader midcap and smallcap indices rose up to 0.57 per cent.

During the week, Sensex surged 619.07 points or 1.03 per cent, while Nifty advanced 185.95 points or 1.03 per cent.

Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking, said, “Markets recovered sharply and posted gains of over a per cent, taking a breather after the recent dip. Positive global cues led to a gap up but profit taking trimmed the gains in the initial hours.” In the next week, Mishra said, markets will first react to macro data in early trade on Monday. As the result season is almost behind us, the focus will shift back to global markets for cues. At the same time, traction in primary markets will keep investors busy.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended with gains.

Major indices in Europe were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals.

Asian share prices advanced on Friday after Wall Street benchmarks managed to close mostly higher on the previous day. European shares were largely muted on Friday continuing to search for direction as global investors assess recent high inflation prints and corporate earnings, but were on course to mark their sixth straight weekly gains, Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.07 per cent to USD 81.98 per barrel. PTI