Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex logged good gains for the week, soaring 336.44 points to close at 33,679.24, while the broader Nifty ended above the key 10,350-level to conclude at 10,389.70.
For the week, the market witnessed largely positive momentum with quiet volumes sessions as bulls remained upper-hand.
The liquidity driven gains were supported by positivity in global peers, some domestic triggers along with buying in fundamentally strong stocks lifted the indices.
The market sensed bouyancy with government promulgating ordinance to amend the insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC), This ordinance will prevent defaulters from bidding for their assets in resolution proceedings and take control.
While, minutes of US Fed Reserve showing slower than expected rate hikes, and surge in IT stocks on speculation over sovereign ratings upgrade also lifted the key indices.
The Sensex started the week lower at 33,365.84 and hovered between 33,738.53 and 33,288.21 before settling the week at 33,679.24, showing a gain of 336.44, or 1.01 per cent.
The Sensex saw a modest rise of 28.24 points or 0.08 per cent last week.
The Nifty started the week flat at 10,287 and traded in the range of 10,261 and 10,404.50 to end at 10,389.70, showing a rise of 106.10 points, or 1.03 per cent.
Intermittent buying was witnessed in most of the sectors with Healthcare, Energy and IT stocks, while Banking showed profit-booking.
The broader indices midcap and smallcap company shares also ended in positive territory.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 253.79 crore during the week, as per Sebi’s record including the provisional figure of November 24.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 1.56 per cent. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 2.38 per cent. Both the indices outperformed the Sensex.
Among the 31-share Sensex pack, 21 stocks rose and remaining 10 stocks fell during the week.
Sun Pharma surged by 6.09 per cent. The stock was the biggest gainer from the Sensex pack.
Among key stock specific news, Reliance Industries advanced 4.38 per cent at Rs 949.50. The company said that it has issued and allotted on private placement basis the sixth tranche of unsecured, non-convertible, redeemable debentures aggregating to Rs 2500 crore.
It was followed by Infosys 4.02 per cent, Bajaj Auto 2.71 per cent, ONGC 1.92 per cent, Maruti 1.78 per cent, HDFC Bank 1.51 per cent, NTPC 1.35 per cent, M&M 1.27 per cent and Cipla 1.20 per cent.
However, ICICI Bank fell by 2.48 per cent,followed by SBI 1.53 per cent, Dr Reddy 1.13 per cent, Asian Paints 0.94 per cent, TCS 0.79 per cent, Wipro 0.75 per cent and HUL 0.70 per cent.
The total turnover during the week on BSE rose to Rs 21,642.20 crs as against last weekend’s level of Rs 21,017.96 crore, While NSE fell to 1,49,893.85 compared to Rs 1,60,647.22 crore previously.
Poor demand hurts gold
Gold continued its losing streak for the second straight week at the domestic bullion market, largely in-tandem with a weakening trend overseas amid poor demand from stockists and jewellers.
Traders said a weak trend overseas as the US dollar grew in strength and lower local buying on expectation of further fall mainly dampened the sentiment.
The yellow-metal lost a whopping 0.26 per cent in its two-week downslide.
Elsewhere, silver too slipped for the week owing to lacklustre industrial demand and is poised for its first weekly decline in three.
In worldwide trade, Gold futures finished modestly lower as investors booked some of the yellow metal’s strong pre-Thanksgiving gain. The commodity unhinged from its typically relationship with the dollar, which extended its slump in the wake of Federal Reserve signals for a cautious approach to interest-rate tightening next year.
Higher interest rates tend to boost the dollar and push bond yields up, putting pressure on gold prices by increasing the opportunity cost of holding nonyielding bullion.
December gold fell USD 4.90, or 0.4 per cent, to settle at USD 1,287.30 an ounce. After an up-and-down week, gold logged a roughly 0.7 per cent weekly decline and its first weekly fall of the past three.
December silver fell 12 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to settle at USD 16.992 an ounce. For the week, the metal declined about 2.2 per cent, representing its first weekly drop in the last three.
In the New York Comex trade, gold for December delivery dropped to settle at USD 1,287.30 an ounce compared to last weekend’s close of USD 1,296.50, while December silver contract fell to end at USD 16.992 an ounce from USD 17.373.
On the domestic front, standard gold (99.5 purity) resumed higher at Rs 29,640 per 10 grams from last Friday’s closing level of Rs 29,460 and hovered in a range of Rs 29,520 and Rs 29,340 before settling at Rs 29,440, revealing a loss of Rs 20 per 10 grams, or 0.06 per cent.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also commenced higher at Rs 29,790 per 10 grams compared to preceding weekend’s level of Rs 29,610 and moved in a range of Rs 29,670 and Rs 29,490 before ending at 29,590, revealing a fall of Rs 20 per 10 grams, or 0.06 per cent.
Silver ready (.999 fineness) opened positive at Rs 39,830 per kilogram from last Friday’s closing level of Rs 39,590 and hovered between Rs 39,500 and Rs 39,250 before finish at Rs 39,335, showing a loss of Rs 255 per kilo, or 0.64 per cent.
Moody’s upgrade boosts rupee
Consolidating momentum for the second-straight week, the rupee surged ahead by a whopping 31 paise to end at 64.70 against the US dollar cashing in on positive sentiments post Moody’s upgrade of India’s credit rating.
Frantic unwinding in the greenback largely helped the home currency to stay positive despite initial wobble.
Currency traders and exporters rushed to sell their receivables expecting a surge in dollar inflows from global investors in the face of Moody’s decision to upgrade India’s sovereign rating after a gap of 14 years.
The sovereign rating upgrade comes close on the heels of a sharp improvement in country’s ranking in the World Bank’s ease of doing business survey.
A stellar rally in local equities further supplemented the currency velocity.
The Indian unit climbed a fresh 3-week high of 64.54 before giving back some gains.
Struggling dollar value alongwith fading Fed rate hikes expectations after minutes from the latest meeting showed some policymakers were concerned about stubbornly weak US inflation also lightened up the upbeat mood in the forex market.
It was another strong week for crude oil as OPEC combined political pressure in the Middle East as well as pipeline shutdown catapulted prices to another fresh two-year high amid hopes for output cuts extension.
Brent crude, the international benchmark is trading higher at USD 63.89 a barrel in early Asian trade.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the rupee opened modestly higher at 64.97 against Friday’s close of 65.01.
However, some caution ahead of the FOMC meet outcome and surging curde prices triggered fresh dollar demand.
After hitting a low of 65.13 briefly, the local unit staged a spirited recovery towards the fag-end trade to revist its 3-week high of 64.54 before concluding at 64.70, showing a solid rise of 31 paise, or 0.48 per cent.
Suspected intervention by central bank officials through state-run banks believed to have crubed sharp rupee appreciation.
The Indian currency has strengthened by a whopping 46 paise to the dollar in two-week spike.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the USD at Rs 64.7328 and euro at Rs 76.7213, respectively.
Meanwhile, foreign investors infused a whopping over USD 2 billion in the Indian equity markets this month so far, enthused by government’s announcement of recapitalising PSU banks, improvement in global sentiment and stable currency.
This follows a net inflow of over Rs 3,000 crore in stock markets last month. Prior to that, FPIs had pulled out more than Rs 24,000 crore in the previous two months (August and September).
In the meantime, country’s foreign exchange reserves rose by USD 240.4 million to USD 399.533 billion in the week to November 17, the weekly data from the Reserve Rank showed Friday.
On the global front, the US dollar collapsed to its lowest levels since late September against a basket of major currencies Friday as investors grew optimistic about the strength of the euro zone’s recovery and lost appetite for the greenback.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, was sharply down by 0.94 per cent at 92.79 from 93.67.
Elsewhere, Pound sterling rose to its highest against the dollar since October as markets interpreted the latest comments from top European Union policymakers as mildly positive for Brexit negotiations.
The common currency, euro hit fresh one-month high against the dollar marking its third straight week of gains after euro zone business growth surveys showed surprise growth, supporting the European Central Bank (ECB) move last month to announce a throttling back of its monetary stimulus.
In cross-currency trade, the rupee drifted further against the British pound to finish at 86.13 per pound from 85.79 and weakened against the Euro to settle at 76.73 as compared to 76.71 previously.
The local unit also remained subdued against the Japanese Yen to end at 58.03 per 100 yens from 57.75 last weekend.
In the forward market, premium for dollar continued to show lacklustre trend due to persistent receiving from exporters.
The benchmark six-month forward dollar premium payable for April dropped to 117-119 paise from 127-129 paise and the far-forward contract maturing in October 2018 also slumped to 256-258 paise from 266-268 paise last Friday.
In global commodity trade, crude prices surged to a two-year high Friday as North American markets tightened on the partial closure of the Keystone pipeline connecting Canadian oilfields with the United States.
US light crude hit highs not seen since July 1, 2015, Friday, settling up 1.6 per cent at USD 58.95 per barrel. (PTI)