Photo: The Hindu Business Line
Chennai, India (BBN) - The benchmark BSE Sensex retreated slightly from the day's high of 33,450.31 but was still trading higher by nearly 100 points on sustained buying by domestic institutional investors amid firm global cues.
Investors continue to bet on a possible win for the country's ruling party in Gujarat Assembly election, reports The Hindu Business Line.
Markets are hoping for a big success by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the Assembly elections in Gujarat, with tens of thousands voting in the first stage of the polls on Saturday.
A victory would help boost the government's re-election prospects during general elections in 2019 and reinforce its reform agenda, although analysts said it was already being priced into markets, making the margin of a win crucial to further boost shares.
Optimistic buying by participants ahead of industrial production and inflation numbers to be released later this week too supported the rally.
At 12.45 p.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 90.93 points or 0.27 per cent at 33,341.23 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 24.5 points or 0.24 per cent at 10,290.15.
Among BSE sectoral indices, healthcare index gained the most by 0.72 per cent, followed by auto 0.59 per cent, FMCG 0.53 per cent and IT 0.37 per cent. On the other hand, infrastructure index was up 0.3 per cent, oil & gas 0.14 per cent and capital goods 0.12 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Lupin (+2.19%), M&M (+2.02%), Sun Pharma (+1.53%), Coal India (+1.47%) and HDFC (+1.42%), while the major losers were ONGC (-1.08%), Adani Ports (-0.73%), HUL (-0.73%), NTPC (-0.67%) and Asian Paints (-0.66%).
EARLY TRADE
The Sensex advanced by 195 points in early trade and the Nifty50 also went past the 10,300-mark.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex jumped 194.68 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 33,444.98, with realty, oil and gas, PSU, metal, banking and auto stocks driving the uptrend. The gauge had gained 653.12 points in the previous two sessions.
The 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 46.15 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 10,311.80.
As per provisional data, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs. 1,243 crore on Friday.
Asian stocks were slightly higher with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.2 per cent, staying above a recent two-month trough of 542.27 points amid optimism about global growth after the strong US payrolls data on Friday.
Japan’s Nikkei added 0.1 per cent, while Australian shares climbed 0.1 per cent. Chinese shares opened firm following solid trade data on Friday, with the blue-chip CSI 300 index up 0.1 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.3 per cent.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose 74 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 24,285. The S&P500 index gained 9.82 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 2,646. The Nasdaq Composite index added 21.67 points, or 0.32 percent, to 6,834.
BBN/MMI/ANS