Sensex Gains 123 Points, Nifty Settles Above 18,300 Ahead Of CPI Data. Bank, Auto Shine

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday ended in the green after some good buying in auto and financial sectors in the second half of the session ahead of CPI data. The S&P BSE Sensex, which surged 450 points from the day’s low, settled at 62,028, up 123 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 shut shop at 18,315, up 18 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, M&M, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HUL, HDFC Bank, SBI were among the winners. On the flip side, PowerGrid, NTPC, UltraCemco, Tata Steel, Nestle, L&T emerged losers.

The broader markets, on the other hand, reversed their outperformance and ended lower.

The S&P BSE MidCap index closed 0.33 per cent lower, while the BSE SmallCap index slipped 0.08 per cent.

Sectorwise, Nifty Bank and Auto shines, while stocks of metal, oil and gas, and pharma decline.

In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE Sensex dipped marginally by 36 points to close at 61,905 after hitting the crucial 62,000 mark in opening deals. On the other hand, NSE Nifty, dropped 18 points to settle at 18,297.

Most Asian markets closed lower on looming worries over US banks and lagging demand from China. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.5 per cent, Shanghai Composite by 1 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi by 0.7 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.9 per cent. The US market ended mostly in the negative territory on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.45 per cent to $74.59 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Thursday as they bought equities worth Rs 837.21 crore, according to exchange data.

Falling for the second straight session, the rupee depreciated by 7 paise to 82.16 against the US dollar on Friday, as a strong greenback overseas weighed on investor sentiments. Investors were cautious ahead of inflation data due to be released later in the day, they added.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened weak at 82.11 against the US currency and closed at 82.16 (provisional), registering a fall of 7 paise over its previous close. During the session, the rupee touched its intra-day high of 82.09 and a low of 82.23 against the dollar. On Thursday, the rupee closed at 82.09 against the US currency.