Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Friday mustered gains for the second straight session, propelled by continuous foreign fund inflows and a positive trend in global equities.
The 30-share BSE Sensex reclaimed the 60,000-mark in intra-day trade, before losing some ground on profit booking. It finally closed at 59,793.14, up 104.92 points or 0.18 per cent. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty ended higher by 34.60 points or 0.19 per cent at 17,833.35.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 3.32 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Infosys, HCL Tech, Maruti, SBI, TCS, and Wipro. On the flip side, UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv, and Titan were among the laggards, shedding as much as 1.94 per cent.
In the broader market, the BSE Smallcap gauge gained 0.18 per cent and the Midcap index climbed 0.16 per cent on Friday.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, IT jumped 2.06 per cent, teck 1.59 per cent, bank 0.51 per cent and metal 0.50 per cent. Basic Materials, telecom, utilities and capital goods closed lower.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex advanced 989.81 points or 1.68 per cent, while the Nifty gained 293.90 points or 1.67 per cent.
In the previous session on Thursday, BSE benchmark climbed 659 points (1.12 per cent) to settle at 59,688. The Nifty advanced 174 points (0.99 per cent) to 17,798.
“Domestic bourses kicked off the trading session on a strong footing, backed by positive sentiments across global markets. However, it succumbed to profit-booking after surpassing the psychological 60,000 mark. Global indices edged higher as investors reassessed the outlook for monetary policy following ultra-hawkish remarks from the Fed chair and 75 bps rate hike by ECB,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Shanghai, Tokyo, and Hong Kong ended in the green. Equities in Europe were trading significantly higher during mid-session deals. The US markets had posted gains on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.73 per cent to $90.69 per barrel.
The rupee appreciated 12 paise to close at 79.57 (provisional) against the US dollar.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 2,913.09 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.