Sensex, Nifty gain over 1% this week; TCS, SBI hold indices firm today, check what moved D-Street

Headline indices ended flat after remaining range-bound for the majority of the session on Friday. The 30-share Sensex gained 143 points from day’s low to end at 38,854.55, while the NSE’s Nifty managed to close above the crucial 11,450-mark, at 11,464. Index heavyweights such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Infosys, State Bank of India (SBI) and Kotak Mahindra Bank, among others helped indices cap the losses. Sensex and Nifty gained 1.2 per cent this week. The broader markets beat the equity benchmarks in today trade with BSE MidCap gaining 0.58 per cent at 14,660. Similarly, BSE SmallCap index too managed to gain 0.52 per cent to close the session at 14,558. “Indian benchmark indices ended flat, with a slight positive bias, undecided on the direction to take. In spite of mixed global cues, Indian markets held out from going negative, after progress was supposed to be made during the talks to defuse border tensions with China,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

SBI top-performing stock: Out of 30 Sensex stocks, 10 scrips settled in the green with State Bank of India (SBI) shares gaining the most, up 2.30 per cent. It was followed by TCS, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan Company and Reliance Industries among others.

Top BSE Sensex losers: The top index laggard was IndusInd Bank, down 1.71 per cent. Power Grid Corporation of India, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki and Nestle India were among other losers on the pack.

Nifty IT index top sectoral gainer: Nifty Media index and Nifty Private Bank index fell 0.88 per cent and 0.16 per cent, respectively. On the flip side, Nifty IT index was top sectoral gainer, up 1.29 per cent, followed by Nifty Realty index which gained 1.27 per cent.

Rupee settles weak: The Indian rupee ended at 73.53 per US dollar on Friday, as compared to the previous close of 73.46 per US dollar. “This week dollar bulls have been very active and the support of 73 has not been broken. The worries over Brexit and delay in US fiscal stimulus package is keeping the USD-INR spot afloat. Unless the USD-INR spot doesn’t consistently trade above 73.75, the spot will remain sideways between 73-73.75,” said Rahul Gupta, Head of Research- Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services

Next week’s outlook: “With the lack of any official statements from the high-level talks to defuse border tensions, investors need to be prepared for slow progress in this regard,” added Nair. As such, this uncertainty will keep worrying the markets for the short term. The lack of any fresh domestic triggers will mean that investors will continue to watch global cues for any directional trend for the next week. “Many small-cap companies are declaring their results over the weekend. Stock specific moves can be expected,” Nair said.