By IANS,
Mumbai : Buoyed by good corporate results by frontline companies, the Indian equities market breached the 17,000 mark this week and continued its gaining rally.
The market also shrugged off a steep 50 basis points hike in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and rise in inflation.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex) surged 644.78 points or 3.91 percent to 17,125.98 in the week. The S&P CNX Nifty rose 153.3 points or 3.09 percent to 5,111.70.
The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 219.82 points or 3.22 percent to 7,056.21 in the week. The BSE Small-Cap index slumped 196.36 points or 2.30 percent to 8,727.72.
According to market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Indian equities market attracted a foreign institutional investment (FII) of $535.00 million over the week.
The market extended gains for the fifth session April 21. On that day, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 258.13 points or 1.57 percent at 16,739.33. The broader based S&P CNX Nifty rose 78.60 points or 1.59 percent at 5,037.
The market extended its rally for the sixth straight session April 22, led by real estate, cement and infrastructure stocks.
On that day, the BSE Sensex rose 44.54 points or 0.27 percent at 16,783.87. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 12.30 points or 0.24 percent at 5,049.30.
Market finished lower in volatile trade April 23, dragged lower by banking, capital goods and select blue-chip stocks. The BSE Sensex lost 85.83 points or 0.51 percent at 16,698.04. The broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 26.50 points or 0.52 percent at 5,022.80.
The key benchmark indices witnessed a divergent trend April 24 after witnessing a bout of volatility ahead of the expiry of April derivative contracts.
On that day, the BSE Sensex gained 23.04 points or 0.14 percent at 16,721.08. The S&P CNX Nifty lost 22.95 points or 0.46 percent at 4,999.85.
The market spurted April 25 following steady build-up of fresh positions in the derivatives segment. The 30-share BSE Sensex galloped 404.90 points or 2.42 percent at 17,125.98, while the S&P CNX Nifty was up 111.85 points or 2.24 percent at 5,111.85.
India’s largest private sector company in terms of market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) fell 0.47 percent to Rs.2,624.50. On April 22, RIL said it had formed a joint venture with Office Depot to provide office products and services in India.
India’s largest private sector bank by assets, ICICI Bank, soared 9.69 percent to Rs.916.15.
India’s top small carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, in terms of sales fell 2.99 percent to Rs.737.25. Maruti posted 33.63 percent decline in net profit to Rs.2.97 billion on 9.35 percent rise in total income to Rs.50.69 billion in Q4 March 2008 over Q4 March 2007.