INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: Buoyed by cooling of tensions between India and Pakistan, key stock indices snapped their three-day losing streak on
Friday.
Investor sentiment turned for the better on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's re-election prospects.
Positive global cues kept the
bulls of Dalal Street in high spirits
BSE's Sensex ended above the 36,000 mark at 36,064, up 196 points or 0.55 per cent
The broader NSE Nifty ended Day 1 of March FO series at 10,864, up 71 points, or 0.66 per cent.
"Keeping in mind the volatility expected in
2019, it would be ideal to have a bottom-up approach and pick and choose good quality and beaten down stocks from respective sectors," said
Sanjeev Zarbade, Kotak Securities.
Market at a glanceOn the Sensex chart, 25 issues rose while five declined
IndusInd Bank was the top gainer, followed by YES Bank, Vedanta, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India and Maruti
Airtel declined the most by 3.43 per cent after the firm on Thursday announced plans to raise as much as Rs 32,000 crore ($4.5 billion)
through equity and bond sales in one of the largest such exercises by an Indian company.
Barring telecom, all other sectoral indices ended
Airtel was the only drag on the BSE Telecom index, which pulled it into the red
Basic Materials, capital goods, metals, industrials, finance and power were leading sectoral gainers, with each rising over a per
cent.
Broader market continued to display strength, with the BSE Midcap index rising by 1.29 per cent and Smallcap 2.13 per cent
On a weekly bais, the BSE barometer rose 192.33 points, or 0.57 per cent while the Nifty gained 71.35 points, or 0.69 per cent
This was the second straight weekly gains for the index.
Markets will remain closed on Monday because of Mahashivratri.
Factors in
actionDe-escalation in Indo-Pak tensionsPakistan on Thursday said it is set to release the captured IAF pilot as a "first step" to open
Signs of de-escalation helped investors move back to riskier assets like equities.
Global markets upbeatEmerging-market stocks rose for the
first time in four sessions on Friday, led by Chinese shares, which jumped on greater inclusion in indices widely watched by investors
MSCI's index of emerging market shares climbed 0.3 percent, but it remained on track for a 0.5 percent weekly loss.
Expert-takeVinod Nair,
Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services
"Market rallied as cues on easing border tensions and expectations of US-China trade agreement
Outperformance was seen in bank, small and midcaps in expectation of rate cut from RBI, after a slowdown in GDP growth in the third quarter
Investors are gradually churning their portfolio to high quality small and midcaps where valuation looks attractive."
