Equities inched up marginally on the hope that a fall in rupee value would be beneficial for information technology (IT) companies. The rupee closed higher than its historical low as coprorates brought in dollars.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share sensitive index, Sensex, closed at 18774.24, a marginal gain of 54.95 points.
The marginal increase in indices on Friday was due to the rise in stocks of IT companies, which are export-oriented, (1.43 per cent) followed by technology (1.11 per cent), automobiles (0.34 per cent), power (0.27 per cent) and oil and gas (0.17 per cent).
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Metal stocks lost the most with a drop of 1.45 per cent and realty 1.02 per cent.
On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the Nifty closed higher by 11.75 points at 5667.65.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were selling heavily in India and other emerging markets. “The Indian markets have absorbed $15 billion this year. However, the recent sell-off could be partially attributed to a possible ‘risk off’ trade. Investors are chasing the U.S. markets as economic indicators have shown a gradual improvement and point towards a sustained recovery. Finally, selling in India could also be ascribed to rising treasury yields and continued rupee depreciation, accelerated by selling in Indian debt markets,” said Pankaj Pandey, Head Research, ICICIdirect.
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The rupee recovered some losses on Friday against the dollar.
The Indian currency closed at 59.27/28 a dollar as compared to its previous close of 59.57/58. It fell to its historic low of 59.98 intra-day on Thursday.