Sensex ends 214 points higher, Nifty at 11,371; banking stocks lead gains

Domestic benchmark indices ended on a bullish note on Friday led by gains in index-heavyweights HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Infosys amid strong cues from global equities. Sensex ended 214 points higher at 38,541 and Nifty closed 59 points higher at 11,371. Yesterday, Sensex closed 394 points lower at 38,220 and Nifty fell 96 points to 11,312. During this week, Sensex has risen 557 points or 1.47%, while Nifty has gained 193 points or 1.73%.

Meanwhile, April-June quarterly earnings announcements by PNB, Union Bank of India, Oil India, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Coffee Day Enterprises will also help to decide the direction of stock market. 

PowerGrid, followed by NTPC, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, Nestle, SBI, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were among the top gainers in the Sensex pack. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, M&M, Bajaj twins, TCS and L&T were among the top laggards today. Sectorally, except media, metal and pharma, all other indices closed in the green territory today, with banking stocks leading the rally.

On the currency front, Rupee, the Indian benchmark currency posted biggest single-session rise against the US dollar since July 15 and closed at 74.84 per dollar as against the earlier closing of 75.03 per dollar. This was on the back of a weak dollar that fell after the US labour market looked weak.

Commenting on today's trend, S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities said, "Indices held firm today with help from select pivotal even as market participants booked profits in late afternoon trade. Small caps & Midcaps did well this week".

Global markets

Domestic benchmarks opened majorly higher today, although erased early gains on the back of mixed cues by the afternoon session. European markets traded lower after FOMC minutes showed a pessimistic stance taken by its officials in its latest meeting.

Most Asian markets bounced from previous day's lows and traded higher tracking overnight gains in the US. Although gains were checked amid escalating US-China tensions, The Trump administration on Thursday reportedly declined to acknowledge any plans to meet with China over the Phase 1 trade deal after the commerce ministry in Beijing said bilateral talks would be held 'in the coming days' to evaluate the agreement's progress.

Wall Street closed higher with tech-heavy Nasdaq marking new all-time high despite weak US economic data. US jobless claims rose above 1 million. European markets also opened higher today, tracking the positive rally.

Worldwide, there are 228 lakh confirmed cases and 7.97 lakh deaths from COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, the death toll in India touched 54,945 and total coronavirus cases stood at 29.05 lakh as of Friday.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said," Overnight gains in US Tech shares, in spite of underwhelming economic data in the US, helped global markets. Domestically, more hopes arose regarding normalisation of businesses and affected sectors, as the government continued with the 'unlock' process. Markets were up by almost 1.5% on a weekly basis. Expectations and remarks from Central Banks, especially from the US Fed, drove global markets this week."

Valuation

As per Nifty technical analysis, the index successfully stayed above the 11350 level since the opening bell in today's trade. Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments said," We are all set to get to the 11500 level but we must hold 11100-11200 as that would prove to be a crucial support range."

Nirali Shah, Senior Research Analyst, Samco Securities said, "Conversely, Indian markets even with a comparatively smaller economic package is dancing to the tunes of global optimism. This upbeat sentiment unaccompanied by any structured economic revival policies point-blank suggests limiting disparity in risk-reward favouring the bulls and investors should not get carried away by this illusionary optimism."                   

"On a technical front, Nifty50 witnessed highly volatile sessions with gap ups and gap downs and finally closed the week on a positive note. The short term trend is still intact and can be considered bullish, however, this upside is limited. Immediate support for the index is now placed at 11100, " Shah added.

Vinod Nair said," The expectation of economic activity picking up and earning normalising will have to translate into reality or at least show signs of it, for the markets to sustain the current momentum."

Share Market News Live: Sensex rises 250 points, Nifty at 11,409; NTPC, ONGC, BPCL, PowerGrid top gainers

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