Snapping a three-day falling streak, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Friday gained over 91 points as funds purchased heavy-weight stocks, led by ICICI Bank on its higher earnings, and RBI’s move to help increase money supply in the financial system.
The Sensex, after losing 362 points in last three days, remained lower throughout the session, but rebound in the last thirty-minute trade to close with a gain of 91.30 points to reach 20,032.34.
The benchmark shuttled between 20,080.33 and 19,768.96 during the day.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also rose by 30 points to 6,017.70, after moving between 6,032.65 and 5,937.10 points.
The fag-end buying picked up after the Reserve Bank of India announced special measures to increase money supply in the financial system, raising hopes of greater liquidity in the equity markets.
Buying was confined largely to the banking sector after the biggest private lender ICICI Bank soared to the highest level since February 2008 as its second-quarter consolidated profit rose 22 per cent.
The stocks of ITC Ltd, the biggest consumer goods maker advanced the most in a week after its quarterly profit rose 23 per cent.
Higher earnings by leading companies boosted the market sentiment which encouraged the global funds net buyers in Indian equities for a 41st day on October 27, the longest streak on record.
In the 30-BSE index components, nine gained and 20 declined, while ACC remained unchanged.
The heaviest-weight Reliance Industries rose by Rs. 12.75 to Rs. 1,095.80; ICICI Bank by Rs. 71.35 to Rs. 1,161.65, and ITC Ltd by Rs. 3.90 to Rs. 171.15. The three carry nearly 27 per cent weightage on the benchmark.
The banking sector index gained the most by adding 1.52 per cent to 14,016.21 followed by FMCG index by 1.30 per cent to 3,605.10. The oil and gas index also rose by 0.69 per cent to 10,948.82.
