Sensex Completes Another Weekly Gain as Most Indian Stocks Rise
Most Indian Stocks Gain as Sensex Heads Toward Weekly Advance
(Bloomberg) -- Most Indian stocks rose on Friday, with the benchmark equity index capping yet another weekly gain.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended little changed at 38,040.57 in Mumbai even as 17 of its 30 constituents rose. The gauge climbed 1.2% over five days, marking its seventh weekly advance in eight. The NSE Nifty 50 Index rose 0.1% on Friday and 1.3% for the week.
Foreign funds injected a net $1.1 billion into Indian shares this week to Aug. 5, making it the only major Asian market to attract inflows in the period even as the nation battles the world’s third-highest number of coronavirus cases and faces its first economic contraction in four decades. The central bank Thursday outlined measures to ease stress in the banking sector while keeping interest rates unchanged.
“We have seen continuing weakness in financials, but that has been made up for by strength in other sectors such as IT, pharma, and metals” said Amit Khurana, head of research at Dolat Capital Market Pvt. in Mumbai.
With earnings season underway, 20 of the 31 Nifty 50 companies that have reported quarterly results so far have beaten or matched analyst estimates. Cipla Ltd. is due to report later today.
The rupee was steady at 74.9350 per dollar, while the yield on the most traded 10-year government bonds rose two basis points to 5.89%.
The Numbers
- Fourteen of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced, led by a gauge of power companies
- Reliance Industries Ltd. climbed 0.6%, giving the biggest boost to the Sensex, while Asian Paints Ltd. was the biggest winner with a 4.4% jump; Titan Co dropped the most with a 2.7% decline, while Infosys Ltd. was the biggest drag on the gauge, slipping 1.9%
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