Fag-end buying saved the day for domestic market as the BSE Sensex reversed all of its early losses and settle 204.46 points higher at 27,214.60, tracking firm global cues, while Nifty reclaimed the 8,200-level.
In early trade, the 30-share Sensex cracked below the 27,000-mark by dropping 93 points to hit a low of 26,917.12 as investors booked profits in recent gainers after the country’s exports in September dropped for the tenth straight month.
However, on across-the-board buying in late session, the index recovered from early losses to end at 27,214.60, up 204.46 points or 0.76 per cent. Meanwhile, the 50-issue NSE Nifty recaptured the crucial 8,200-mark and settled 58.65 points or 0.72 per cent higher at 8,238.15. It slipped to a low of 8,147.65 during the day.
With Friday’s late rally, both Sensex and Nifty climbed 135.09 points (0.49 per cent) and 48.45 points (0.59 per cent), respectively, for the week, to log third-straight weekly rise. Market commenced lower as participants locked in gains in blue-chips that made sizeable grounds in Thursday’s session amid slump in exports and a weakening rupee.
The country’s exports shrunk for the tenth straight month by 24.33 per cent in September to $21.84 billion due to steep fall inbound shipments of petroleum products, iron ore, and engineering goods amid tepid global demand.
Reliance Industries, which surged 1.07 per cent at Rs. 913.70 ahead of its Q2 earnings, helped in the success story. Moreover, Maruti Suzuki continued its upward journey and gathered another 1.56 per cent to Rs. 4,448 on expectations of pick up in its sales during the ongoing festive season.
Other stocks from the auto space too perked up with Tata Motors rising by 1.72 per cent to Rs 387.25, followed by M&M 1.19 per cent, Bajaj Auto 0.42 per cent and Hero MotoCorp 0.88 per cent. Out of the 30-share Sensex, 20 ended higher. Gains in L&T, SBI, ONGC, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy’s, NTPC, Axis Bank, ONGC, Cipla, BHEL, GAIL, TCS and Sun Pharma also contributed.
Globally, Asian markets closed at almost two-month highs. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 0.78 per cent higher, while Shanghai Composite closed 1.60 per cent up. Japan’s Nikkei too up 1.08 per cent.
European markets were slightly higher in their early trade as another batch of weaker-than-estimated economic reports from China, Europe and the US boosted hopes that central banks will maintain stimulus measures.
