By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets inched up at the end of a truncated week Friday, posting marginal gains even as opinion remained divided over the sustainability of the rally that has taken a key index over the 11,000 mark.
The markets had remained closed Tuesday on account of Ambedkar Jayanti.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) ended Friday at 11,023.09 points, a gain of 219.23 points or 2.03 percent, over the previous week’s close of 10,803.86 points.
Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained 1.3 percent from its last close to end at 3,384.4 points.
The Sensex hit an intra-week high of 11,362.31 points and low of 10,719.1, while the Nifty hit an intra-week high of 3,511 points and a low of 3,311.8.
Gains were recorded across the board as significant buying was seen in medium and small enterprises’ stocks. The BSE midcap index ended 3.4 percent higher than its previous weekly close, while the BSE smallcap index was up 4.88 percent.
Indian equities Monday continued from where they left off last week as bulls stepped on the pedal, resulting in the Sensex adding 163 more points in the green. The Sensex rose 163.36 points or 1.51 percent to close at 10,967.22 points.
Similarly, the Nifty gained 1.21 percent from its previous close to end trade at 3,382.6 points.
The rally picked up steam Wednesday, with the Sensex adding another 300 points to the tally. It gained 317.51 points or 2.9 percent to close at 11,284.73.
The Nifty was also up 3 percent from its previous close to end trade at 3,484.15 points.
Wednesday also saw Infosys declaring that it had managed to meet the consolidated revenue guidance by posting Rs.21,693 crore for 2008-09, a robust growth of 30 percent year-on-year (YoY) under the Indian accounting standards.
However, its forecast for fiscal 2009-10 at Rs.22,000-22,900 crore, projecting a 1.5-5.7 percent YoY growth, points to the end of double-digit growth.
Investors ended a winning streak for the markets Thursday as they booked profits in key sectoral stocks, resulting in the Sensex dipping 300 points into the red.
Markets around the globe seemed to be moving on different wavelengths Thursday as European markets, which came alive before Indian bourses shut shop, were trading in the green and Asian markets being either in the red or just holding on to their previous closing figures.
The Sensex Thursday fell 337.33 points or 2.99 percent to close at 10,947.4, while the Nifty lost 3.29 percent from its previous close to end trade at 3,369.5 points.
Friday turned out be another disappointing day as the Sensex, after having gained more than 300 points during the day, plummeted drastically towards the closing bell to end trade only 75 points higher than its previous close.
The Sensex fell 272 points from the day’s highs to close at 11,023.09 points – a marginal increase of 75.69 points or 0.69 percent.
The Nifty too gained only 0.44 percent from its previous close to end trade at 3,384.4 points.
The top gainers on the Sensex included Reliance Capital (up 8.8 percent), BHEL (up 8.6 percent), SBI (up 7.1 percent), HDFC (up 6.6 percent), ICICI Bank (up 5.8 percent).
Losers included Tata Steel (down 8.8 percent), Hindalco (down 7.3 percent), Tata Motors (down 6.5 percent), Reliance Power (down 5.9 percent) and ONGC (down 3.5 percent).
Data with market watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for the week ending Friday showed foreign funds were net buyers, lapping up scrips worth $471.1 million.