Gains in IT, Bank stocks and RIL led the 30-strong Sensex to close higher on Friday even as the global equities market remained firm though there was an upward swing in domestic Coronavirus cases.
Experts believe that the upward swing in the market is temporary and may not continue further because already the Sensex has risen sharply and given the rise in Coronavirus cases in India and impending tensions at the border due to China-India row.
Sensex gained 0.94 per cent or 329 points to close at 35,171 while Nifty rose 0.91 per cent or 94 points to end at 10,383.
Among the top Sexsex gainers were Infy which went up by 6.94 per cent, TCS by 5.21 per cent and Indusind by 3.64 per cent.
RIL also went up by 1.43 percent while HDFC Bank rose by 2.59 per cent.
However, BSE Midcap and Smallcap did not perform as per the expectations and went up by only 0.27 per cent and 0.19 per cent respectively.
BSE IT index was the top sectoral gainer with 5.06 per cent gain and BSE Oil and Gas index went up 2.75 per cent. BSE FMCG which saw top gains on Thursday witnessed corrections during the day on Friday, thereby indicating that investors were indecisive. The index dropped 1.16 per cent at close.
ITC made gains early but later reversed going down by 3.54 per cent ahead of March quarter earnings announcement.
Oil Marketing Companies — BPCL, HPCL and IOC rallied 6.31 per cent, 3.99 per cent and 4.76 per cent respectively amidst surge in petrol/diesel prices in the domestic market. On Friday, the fuel prices were hiked again for the 20th consecutive day increase.In Delhi petrol price rose to Rs 80.13 per litre and diesel price went up to Rs 80.19 a litre.
Among the Banks, UCO Bank climbed 15.53 per cent as it swung into black in quarter ending March. It reported a net profit of Rs 16.78 crore in the said period due to a substantial rise in other income and decrease in provisions. It had reported a net loss of Rs 1552.02 crore for the corresponding period last year.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchased equities worth $453 million over the past five trading sessions while domestic institutional investors sold $279 million worth of equities during the same period.
The total number of Coronavirus cases in India climbed to 4,90,401 after a record 17,296 new cases coming up in the last 24 hours. Covid-related deaths rose to 15,301 after 407 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours.
Experts feel that rising Coronavirus cases in India, impending border developments between India and China and movement of global markets would remain a major concern for investors who are expected to monitor them closely.
