Sensex ends Samvat 2076 on a high, gains 86 points

Mumbai, November 13

Domestic equity benchmarks eked out modest gains on Friday after a day’s pause as banking and finance stocks found firmer ground amid mixed global cues.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 85.81 points higher at 43,443. The broader NSE Nifty rose 29.15 points to 12,719.95. Both the benchmarks closed Hindu calendar year Samvat 2076 with smart gains. The Sensex rallied 4,384.94 points or 11.22%, while the Nifty soared 1,136.05 points or 9.80%.

Markets will have a special one-hour Muhurat trading session on Diwali (Saturday) to mark the beginning of Samvat 2077. Bajaj Finserv was the top gainer in the Sensex pack on Friday, rising 3.32%, followed by Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, SBI and UltraTech Cement.

On the other hand, L&T, HDFC twins, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, TCS and M&M were among the major laggards, slumping up to 2.04%. During the week, the Sensex rallied 1,549.94 points or 3.69%, while the Nifty soared 456.40 points or 3.72%.

“Markets continue to maintain their positive momentum over the week driven by latest positive news of Covid vaccine development, US election results and inflows of foreign investor money. Good set of quarterly numbers and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0’ stimulus measures announced by government also helped in keeping the momentum of market strong.

“Over the week, market maintained high valuations and this led to profit booking in banking sector. In Western markets, investor money chased non-tech stocks following Covid vaccine developments. Market is currently in a stable state and is looking forward to next week’s WPI and trade data release. As inflation is still at higher levels according to latest CPI data, we believe further rate cuts are not possible from the regulator,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

BSE metal, realty, healthcare, basic materials, bankex and energy indices spurted as much as 1.94%, while capital goods, telecom, FMCG and industrials ended lower.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices rallied up to 1.12%. — PTI