Snapping three-day losing streak, buying sentiment was back at D-Street with benchmark indices edging a per cent higher on Friday lifted by gains in financial counters.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 411.38 points, or 1 per cent, to close at 41,575.14 level, with Axis Bank (up 3 per cent), Power Grid (2.2 per cent), SBI (2 per cent), and Bharti Airtel (1.89 per cent) settling as the top gainers on the index. On the flipside, UltraTech Cement (0.22 per cent), and Titan (0.17 per cent) were the top drags.
On the NSE, the Nifty50 ended 124.15 points, or 1.02 per cent highet at 12,250.70-mark.
On the sectoral front, all the key indices on the NSE settled the day in the positive territory. Nifty PSU Bank index was the best performing index, up 3 per cent, at close, followed by gains in Nifty Realty index (1.6 per cent), and Nifty Bank index (1.3 per cent).
The broader markets, too, followed headlines indices with the S&P BSE mid and small-cap indices gaining 0.86 per cent each.
BUZZING STOCKS
Shares of sugar manufacturers extended their rally for the second day in a row. Lower cane crushing and subsequent decline in sugar production has led to sugar stocks ralling in the past few sessions. Sector giant Balrampur Chini Mills hit a13-year high of Rs 185 on the BSE today, but settled 5.37% higher at Rs 184.55.
Public sector banks (PSBs) were in focus on Friday, with Nifty PSU Bank index gaining more than 3 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), on expectation that the banks could benefit from lower yields on government bonds as RBI plans second round of OMO on December 30. Among individual stocks, Punjab & Sind Bank, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank (PNB) gained more than 4 per cent each, while Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, State Bank of India (SBI) and Indian Bank were up in the range of 2 per cent to 3 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Shares of ICICI Securities hit a 52-week high of Rs 436.70 on the BSE on Friday amid expectation of earnings improvement going forward. In the past two months, the stock has rallied 38 per cent after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 135 crore in September quarter. The stock closed 17.57% higher at Rs 427.90
GLOBAL CUES
Asian shares scaled an 18-month high on Friday while oil prices stayed buoyant in a holiday-shortened week, as investor optimism improved on hopes a US-China trade deal would soon be signed.
In early European trade, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures added 0.4 per cent, German DAX futures rose 0.6 per cent while FTSE futures were up 0.5 per cent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 0.7 per cent to 555.42, a level not seen since mid-2018. Japan’s Nikkei was off 0.4 per cent, but on track for a near 19 per cent rise this year, matching the annual increase of 2017. Australia’s benchmark index rose 0.4 per cent. Chinese shares gave up early gains with the blue-chip CSI300 down 0.1 per cent.
Source: Maalaimalar
