Sensex, Nifty end week in green; banking shares lead gains

Indian benchmark indices closed the week in green led by gains in banking shares amid mixed global cues. While 30-stock Sensex rose 1.22% or 710 points to end at 59,015, Nifty gained 1.24% or 215 points to 17,585 in the week. Market cap of BSE-listed firms rose by Rs 3.38 lakh crore during the period.

On Friday, benchmark indices ended lower after scaling record highs as investors booked profits at higher levels. After moving in a range of 866 points during the day, Sensex closed 125.27 points lower at 59,015 and Nifty slipped 44.35 points to 17,585.

While Sensex touched lifetime high of 59,737, Nifty reached new peak of 17,792 during the day. Kotak Bank was the top  Sensex gainer, rising 5.26 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Maruti, Axis Bank and Nestle India. Tata Steel, SBI, TCS and Reliance Industries were among the top Sensex losers, falling up to 3.57%.

Sensex has risen 23.59% or 11,264 points and Nifty has climbed 25.77% or 3,603 points since the beginning of this year. In a year, Sensex zoomed 51.40% or 20,036 points and Nifty clocked a stellar rally of 52.70% or 6,069 points. On Sensex, IndusInd Bank was the top gainer, rising 13.03% and Tata Steel was the top loser, falling 4.29% during the week.

Samco Research in a note said, " In the last trading session, Nifty posted a reversal bar. Similarly, Bank Nifty index also posted a reversal bar after making a new high. In the short term, the market is trading overbought and may witness small profit booking going ahead. The overall positional outlook on the market remains bullish as long as it doesn't cross 17,500 because a break below the same will put a halt to the ongoing momentum. Immediate support and resistance are now placed at 17,400 and 17,900 respectively."

BSE midcap index climbed 1.38% or 341 points to 25,046 and small cap index gained 1.31% or 361 points to 28,006 during the week.

Bank Nifty rose 3.08% or 1128 points to 37,811 during the week. Among BSE sectoral indices, BSE bankex was the top gainer (pointwise), zooming 3.46% or 1,447 points to 43,262 during the last five trading sessions.

Banking stocks rose after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced formation of a bad bank for transfer of NPAs from public sector banks.

The Cabinet approving telecom relief package also pushed banking shares higher since some public and private lenders have huge amount of outstanding and bad loans from the sector.

Other key indices also ended in the green. While BSE IT index rose 530  points to 34,850, consumer durables index surged 662 points to 40,905. BSE auto index gained 589 points 23,282.