Rising for the third day, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Friday inched up by 14 points to end at a nearly two-week high of 19,915.95 in a volatile session ahead of the September quarter earnings season.
Stocks took support from a stronger rupee which was last trading at 61.45 levels versus the dollar compared to 61.73 on Thursday.
After touching the day’s high of 20,052, the Sensex fell to a low of 19,833.17 before ending moderately higher by 13.88 points, or 0.07 per cent, at 19,915.95.
The gauge had gained 522 points in the last two trading sessions. For the entire week, Sensex gained 188.68 points or 0.96 per cent.
“Intraday volatility was high as investors were seen cautious ahead of Q2 FY’14 results starting in coming week. Meanwhile the services PMI in September continued to be lower for third consecutive month, which also led to selling pressure on rallies. European markets were weak too,” said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also failed to hold initial gains and fell by 2.40 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 5,907.30.
Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, ended at 11,852.38, down 0.89 points or 0.01 per cent.
Brokers said while government’s plan to inject funds in PSU banks to provide cheaper loans sparked off interest in interest-sensitive stocks but a mixed trend in global markets capped gains.
In 30-share Sensex, 15 stocks gained while other 15 ended with losses. Major gainers were Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Coal India, HDFC Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors.
Sectorally, the BSE Realty index gained the most by rising 1.65 per cent, followed by BSE Auto index (0.94 per cent) and BSE Metal index (0.63 per cent).
