Markets rally on robust buying; log 4th weekly gains

Benchmark Sensex soared over 284 points on Friday while the NSE Nifty finished at a fresh lifetime high on the back of robust gains in FMCG, metal and banking stocks amid positive global cues.

Brokers said sentiment got a lift on uninterrupted buying by domestic institutional investors, while global markets were mixed after the US and China agreed to resume trade talks.

The 30-share Sensex stayed in the green throughout the session and hit the day's high of 38,022.32 on a flurry of buying. It finally ended at 37,947.88, up 284.32 points, or 0.75 per cent.

The broader NSE Nifty spurted 85.70 points, or 0.75 per cent, to end at a new record of 11,470.75. It surpassed its previous closing high of 11,470.70 hit on August 9.

It was the fourth straight week of gains for the benchmarks. The Sensex recorded a rise of 78.65 points, or 0.21 per cent, while the Nifty gained 41.25 points, or 0.36 per cent, during the week.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 133.78 crore while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold equities worth Rs 825.08 crore on Thursday provisional data showed.

"Indian markets are largely ignoring the rhetoric of global trade wars and rupee depreciation (read dollar appreciation).

"Dissecting the earnings for the quarter just gone by, there was a clear evidence in terms of pickup in activity and management commentary of a number of corporates was positive. Quality stocks are seeing more buying interest on every smaller fall, in turn making those more expensive and taking markets to new highs," said Devang Mehta, Head -Equity Advisory, Centrum Wealth Management.

Yes Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging 3.76 per cent, followed by SBI at 3.18 per cent.

Other prominent gainers included Vedanta 3.09 per cent, HUL 2.63 per cent, Tata Motors 2.47 per cent, ITC 2.27 per cent, Tata Steel 2.20, ICICI Bank 1.67 per cent, Kotak Bank 1.45 per cent, M&M 1.24 per cent and Adani Ports 1.08 per cent.

However, Hero MotoCorp fell 1.14 per cent, ONGC 0.61 per cent, Maruti Suzuki 0.58 per cent, Coal India 0.44 per cent, PowerGrid 0.35 per cent and Bajaj Auto 0.23 per cent, among others.

Except oil and gas, all sectoral indices, ended in the green. The BSE FMCG index rose 1.79 per cent, metal 1.71 per cent, bankex 1.27 per cent, healthcare 1.25 per cent, consumer durables 0.89 per cent, PSU 0.87 per cent, finance 0.84 per cent, realty 0.71 per cent, power 0.70 per cent, capital goods 0.60 per cent, IT 0.51 per cent, teck 0.48 per cent, auto 0.43 per cent and infrastructure 0.13 per cent.

Oil and gas shed 0.15 per cent.

The broader markets too displayed a strong trend as investors accumulated stocks available at attractive levels. The BSE small-cap index advanced 0.94 per cent, while the mid-cap gauge gained 0.88 per cent.

Globally, Asian shares ended mixed after China and the US agreed to hold their first trade talks since June, while the Turkish lira staged a recovery.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.35 per cent, Taiwan inched up 0.07 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.42 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.34 per cent.

In the Eurozone, Paris CAC 40 and Frankfurt's DAX were up by 0.14 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively, in early deals. London's FTSE too edged up 0.05 per cent.

US stocks rallied to close higher yesterday on strong corporate earnings from Walmart and Cisco Systems.