Indian stock markets ended the week on a strong note, with key benchmark indices closing higher on Friday, supported by gains in IT, FMCG, banking, and financial stocks.
The Sensex surged 769.09 points, or 0.95%, to close at 81,721.08. During the day, the index moved between an intra-day high of 81,905.17 and a low of 80,897.00.
Similarly, the Nifty rose 243.45 points, or 0.99%, to settle at 24,853.15.
“The index has moved higher after finding support at the 21-day EMA. Broadly speaking, the Nifty appears to be consolidating within the range of 24,700–25,000,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.
The short-term trend remains positive, with momentum likely to strengthen above the 25,000 mark, he added.
The domestic market has recouped nearly half of the week’s earlier losses, buoyed by gains in FMCG and IT stocks. Optimism surrounding a potentially record-high dividend from the RBI is also fueling hopes for fiscal consolidation, experts noted.
In broader markets, both the Nifty Midcap100 and Nifty Smallcap100 posted gains. The midcap index rose by 0.64%, while the smallcap index was up 0.80%, reflecting positive sentiment across the board.
On the Sensex, only one stock — Sun Pharma — ended in the red, falling 2.14% following a weaker-than-expected Q4 net profit.
The remaining stocks closed with gains. Leading the rally were shares of Eternal, Power Grid, ITC, Bajaj Finserv, and Nestle India, which rose between 3.6% and 1.83%.
On the sectoral front, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Private Bank led the gains, rising 1.63% and 1.08%, respectively.
Other sectors such as IT, financial services, metal, PSU banks, oil & gas, and realty also closed in the green, with gains of up to 0.95%.
Meanwhile, Nifty Pharma and Healthcare were the only two sectors to end in the red. Nifty Pharma slipped 0.41%, while the Healthcare index posted a marginal decline of 0.01%.
According to analysts, market sentiment was further buoyed by optimism over US-India trade negotiations.
“Investor attention is increasingly focused on US-India trade talks and strong domestic macroeconomic indicators,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.-IANS
