Business   

Sensex spurts 221 points

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index, Sensex, shot up by 221 points on Friday and closed at 18266.10, making gains for the second day in a row after recent declines as investors bought heavyweights such as Reliance, Infosys and ICICI Bank at lower levels amid firm global cues. The sensex closed at 18044.64 on Thursday. There was good buying on the first day of the June's derivative contracts in realty, banking, metals and refinery. Analysts, however, cautioned that it was only a technical recovery and not a trend reversal because macro-economic concerns still linger.

The broad-based NSE-50, Nifty, rose by 63.75 points or 1.18 per cent to end at 5476.10against 5412.35.

Overall, 11 of the 13 BSE sectoral indices closed with gains. Only auto and consumer durables ended in the red. Small-cap and mid-cap counters attracted good buying, indicating presence of retail investors.

Reliance gained 1.40 per cent at Rs. 946.30, while ICICI Bank gained 4.23 per cent at Rs. 1,069. Infosys was up 0.31 per cent at Rs. 2,787.95. In all, 23 of the 30 Sensex companies closed with gains.

“The uptick in the Indian market in the last two days can be termed as more of a technical recovery after the recent weakness. It is a minor pullback and not a trend reversal, as the fundamentals are still weighed down by high inflation and rising interest rates,” said IIFL Head of Research (India Private Clients) Amar Ambani.

Asian markets, meanwhile, ended narrowly mixed on Friday. Key indices in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan ended marginally up, while those in China and Japan showed losses. However, European stocks displayed a firm trend in afternoon deals.

Rupee gains 14 paise

The rupee appreciated by 14 paise to close at a one-week high of 45.16/17 against the dollar on Friday on the back of a smart rally in domestic equities amid a weak dollar overseas. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee commenced firm at 45.19/20 against Thursday's close of 45.30/31. It later moved in a narrow range of 45.26 and 45.15 before settling at 45.16/17. — PTI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Kaushik Basu pitches for FDI in multi-brand retail
Cairn-Vedanta deal awaits CCEA nod
JLR inaugurates Pune assembly plant
Banks asked to reimburse failed ATM transactions within 7 days
Project under way to locate tuna habitat
InterfaceFlor to set up production unit
Norms for overseas direct investment eased further
Sri Lanka: Northern Province GDP records healthy growth
Salora to sell Sharp products
NLC profit up at Rs.1,298 cr
City Union Bank net up 41 % at Rs.215 crore
Sensex spurts 221 points
VA Tech brimming with orders
Central Bank to expand abroad
Polaris to implement Intellect CBS in RBI
Exchange Rates
Bullion Rates

Copyright © 2011, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu