INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: After two sessions of losses, bulls again took charge on Dalal Street, as strong buying in bank, metal and IT stocks pushed
Sensex 391 points higher and Nifty to its fresh lifetime high on Friday.
Bank and financial counters staged an impressive comeback from
their earlier lows after the RBI on Wednesday raised the repo rate by 25 basis points amid concerns of rising inflation.
Axis Bank, YES
Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank jumped up to 5 per cent, driving Sensex to the higher terrain.
Besides, a data released on Friday
showed that India's service sector grew for the second consecutive month in July
Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index rose from 52.6 in June to 54.2 in July, as new businesses rose at the fastest rise since June
2017, PTI reported, adding, that the Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index, that maps both the manufacturing and services sector, rose
from 53.3 in June to 54.1 in July
The 30-share Sensex zoomed 391 points, or 1.05 per cent, to finish at 37,556, while Nifty 50 closed the day at a fresh record high of
11,361, with a gain of 116 points, or 1.03 per cent.
For the week, Sensex inched up by 0.60 per cent, whereas Nifty clocked a gain of 0.73
per cent.
HDFC, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and ITC emerged as the key drivers of a rally in Sensex.
HDFC Bank, however, along with Tata Motors,
Asian Paints, Hero MotoCorp and IndusInd Bank stood as the top drags on the headline index.
BSE Midcap and smallcap indices settled broadly
in line with benchmark Sensex, rising 0.93 per cent and 1.16 per cent, respectively.
Green dots flashed on all sectoral indices on BSE, with
BSE Bankex, consumer durables, metal, finance and healthcare clocking gains of over 1 per cent.
Mortgage lender HDFC on Thursday hiked
interest rates on home loans by 20 basis points, a day after RBI raised the benchmark repo rate by 25 bps to 6.5 per cent.
Reliance
Communications (RCom) settled 6 per cent up after reported that the Supreme Court has allowed the telecom firm to sell its wireless and
tower assets to Reliance Jio
Shares of Jet Airways plunged 7 per cent after the company reportedly told its employees that it would not be able to operate beyond 60
days unless cost-cutting measures are put in place
Meanwhile, State Bank of India (SBI) has inked a pact with Reliance Jio Infocomm to integrate its digital banking solution Yono with MyJio
application to boost digital payment
Shares of SBI climbed 1.56 per cent and those of Reliance Industries settled 0.72 per cent up.
Global stocks were mixed as investors await
US job report, expected later today
Among Asian peers, Shanghai SE Composite Index fell one per cent amid worries of a looming trade war
