Sensex Rises 160 Points, Nifty Settles At 11,643
Domestic stock markets closed in the green on Friday led by gains in FMCG, auto and banking stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex ended 160.10 points, or 0.41 per cent, higher at 38,767.11, while the broader NSE Nifty settled at 11,643.45, up 46.75 points or 0.40 per cent from the previous close. Major advancers on the Nifty50 were ITC, GAIL, Maruti Suzuki, ZEEL and Cipla, settling between 1.50 and 3.71 per cent. Twenty seven out of 50 Nifty stocks finished the session higher.
Top gainers on the 30-scrip Sensex were ITC, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, Vedanta, Heromoto Corp and ICICI Bank, settling between 1.12 and 3.14 per cent.
The Sensex moved in a range of 38,818.87-38,554.79 during the session, whereas the Nifty rose as much as 11,657.35. The index touched a low of 11,578.80.
The benchmark indices finished higher for the second day in a row.
According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, market turned positive despite a weak rupee as investors remain focused on the upcoming earnings season.
IT company Infosys settled at 0.71 higher on the NSE while TCS ended at 0.32 per cent lower on the 50-scrip index, ahead of March quarterly earnings announcements. The Nifty's IT index closed 0.23 per cent higher. Both the companies are expected to post a year-on-year profit gain, according to news agency Reuters.
"Earnings season will give direction to the market while investors are also keen on the ongoing election to gain confidence," said Mr Nair.
Investors on Friday also eyed inflation data, which will be released later in the day. According to a Reuters poll, consumer inflation is expected to have accelerated to 2.80 per cent in March from 2.57 per cent in February.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equity worth Rs 476.51 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold equities to the tune of Rs 16.58 crore, provisional data available with NSE showed.
(With inputs from agencies)