Markets continued to rule firm for the second straight week on persistent buying, mainly in FMCG and Metal counters, following finalisation of GST rates for bulk of the items.
However, global volatility arising out of political developments in the US and emerging markets held back the gains, brokers said.
The sensex resumed higher at 30,287.37 and shot up further to all-time intra-day high of 30,712.35 before ending the week at 30,464.92 — showing a gain of 276.77 points or 0.92 per cent. It has gained by 606.12 points or 2.03 per cent in two weeks.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also rose by 27 points or 0.29 per cent to close the week at 9,427.90 after hitting an all- time high of 9,532.60. The Nifty has also gained by 142.60 points or 1.54 per cent in two weeks.
Mr. Anupam Singhi, COO of William O’Neil India, said, “Continuing with solid gains last week, the markets started the week with a bang”. However with the news of a crisis in the White House flowing in, the markets took a breather and corrected Thursday, and discounted some gains from the rally.
The Nifty and the Sensex are trading 1.1 pct and 0.81 pct off their all-time highs, respectively. Both the indices are trading comfortably above their 50-Day moving averages.
Among sectoral and industry indices, FMCG rose by 1.62 per cent followed by Metal 1.31 per cent, IT 0.94 per cent, Teck 0.76 per cent and bankex 0.55 per cent.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 15 stocks rose and remaining 15 stocks fell during the week.
Tata Steel jumped 12.05 per cent the biggest gainer from the Sensex pack followed by TCS 6.09 per cent, Lupin 4.84 per cent, ITC 4.24 per cent, SBIN 3.70 per cent, ICICI Bank 3.52 per cent, Tata Motors 2.92 per cent, HUL 2.81 per cent, Dr Reddy 2.76 per cent, Wipro 2.47 per cent BhartiAirtel 2.10 per cent and Maruti 0.89 per cent.
The total turnover during the week on BSE and NSE rose to Rs 23,712crore and Rs 1,30,929crore, respectively, as against last weekend’s level of Rs 18,690crore and Rs 1,20,528crore.
Yellow metal bounces back
Gold prices rebounded from past three weeks’ downtrend at the domestic bullion market on higher investors’ offtake, as well as wedding seasonal demand.
On the domestic front, standard gold (99.5 purity) commenced lower at Rs 28,045 per 10 grams, and touched a low of Rs 28,035 and later surged to a high of Rs 28,895 before closing at Rs 28,635, showing a smart rise of Rs 580 per 10 grams, or 2.06 per cent.
Similarly, pure gold (99.9 purity) also opened lower at Rs 28,195 per 10 grams, and touched a low of Rs 28,185 and later climbed to Rs 29,045 before finishing at Rs 28,785, revealing a gain of Rs 580 per 10 grams, or 2.06 per cent.
Silver ready (.999 fineness) opened positive at Rs 38,740 per kilo from its previous weekend level of Rs 38,485, later rising to a high of Rs 39,580, before ending at Rs 39,380, registering a surge of Rs 895 per kilo, or 2.32 per cent.
The yellow metal had lost a whopping 4.46 per cent in the past three-week downslide, or Rs 1,290 per 10 grams. Elsewhere, silver also rebounded sharply to close above the significant Rs 39,000 mark due to heavy speculative buying coupled with higher industrial demand.
In worldwide trade, gold prices edged higher to post their largest weekly gain since mid-April, as overall declines in the US dollar and equities from a week ago fed haven demand for bullion.
US tumult hits Rupee
The resurgent rupee suffered a major setback during the week as the home currency crumbled under heightened US political instability fears and plunged to end at a fresh one-month low of 64.64 against the greenbank.
After regaining some lost ground, the home currency finally settled with a loss of 33 paise. Emerging currency and financial markets worlwide were consumed and fraught with shaky US politics surrounding President Donald Trump and political turmoil in Brazil.
Domestic currency traders and investors took a cautious note of the latest political developments in the US after some reports suggested that President Donald Trump tried to influence federal investigation and the appointment of a special counsel to head the probe into Russia’s possible involvement in last year’s US elections.
The rupee largely weathered the worst after crashing below the psychological 65-mark briefly. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency resumed firmly higher at 64.12 a dollar from last weekend level of 64.31 and strengthened fruther to 63.95 on steady dollar unwinding from exporters and banks.
It took a knock after US political instability fears which took centre stage Thursday’s session and nosedived to hit a fresh low of 65.02 in a nervous trade amid heavy dollar demand.
However, the local unit staged a spectacular rebound towards the tail end trade to cut short losses and finished at 64.64, a fall of 33 paise, or 0.51 per cent.
Foreign funds bought local shares worth $460.52 million, according to provisional figures by stock exchanges.
In worldwide trade, the US dollar endured its worst week in more than a year, wiping out all its gains since Donald Trump was elected US President. The dollar index weighted peers tumbled sharply to end at a new 2017 low of 97.00 – the level not seen since October, 2016 against last weekend level of 99.05.