Sensex Rises 83 Points, Nifty Settles At 10,772; Auto Stocks Lead Gains

The domestic stock market indices ended Friday's session on a positive note, posting a weekly gain. The S&P BSE Sensex surged 83.31 points, or 0.23 per cent, to close at 35,657.86. The NSE's Nifty50 index rose 22.50 points or 0.17 per cent and settled at 10,772.25. Stock markets ended in green, following gains in auto, realty, capital goods and energy stocks, despite weak Asian trend. Markets benefited from bargain-hunting in recently battered stocks amid mixed global cues, said brokers. Most sectors traded higher today with energy stocks climbing on softer crude prices. US tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese exports took effect on Friday.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were Tata Motors, HeroMotocorp, TCS, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance, rising between 1.19 per cent to 4.25 per cent. Top laggards on the BSE index were Sun Pharma, NTPC, Wipro, HDFC, Vedanta Limited and ICICI Bank, ending with losses between 0.59 per cent to 1.11 per cent.

Hindustan Petroleum, Tata Motors, HeroMotoCorp, Grasim and TCS (rising between 1.99 per cent to 4.54 per cent) were leading the pack of Nifty gainers, while main losers on the index were Cipla, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy's and Infratel, ending with losses between 1.38 per cent to 2.25 per cent.

"Indices opened lower but gradually picked up and ended today's session on positive note. During the day some short covering in beaten-down large and mid-cap stocks was seen. There has also been a built up of positions in IT stocks ahead of the results season staring next week", said Viral Berawala, CIO, Essel Mutual Fund.

Consumer and auto stocks traded well today due to good progress of the monsoon, reported Reuters. A good monsoon is crucial to the Indian economy as it pushes up farm incomes, in turn driving demand and consumption.

Oil refiners rose on the back of lower crude prices, with Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd rising up to 4.54 per cent on NSE index. Auto stocks also gained, with Tata Motors Ltd and Hero MotoCorp among the top percentage gainers on both BSE and NSE index.

"Nifty settled marginally higher amid volatility, reflecting prevailing cautiousness among the participants. It retested hurdle around 10,800 twice but couldn't sustain in the end however buying in select index majors and recovery in broader market eased some pressure", said Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking Ltd.

However, Tata Motors plunged in the previous session after unit Jaguar Land Rover said that a so-called "hard Brexit" would cost it 1.2 billion pounds ($1.59 billion) a year.

Meanwhile, Varroc Engineering issue opened over 6 per cent higher on the market debut on BSE. The Varroc Engineering shares was issued at Rs. 967 while the shares opened at Rs. 1,032 on Friday, 6.7 per cent higher against the issue price on BSE. 

Both the Sensex and Nifty posted weekly gains, rising 234.38 points, or 0.66 per cent, and 58.35 points, or 0.54 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 159.37 crore on net basis, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also sold equities to the tune of Rs 296.97 crore on Thursday, provisional data showed. (With Agencies inputs)