Mkts further up on renewed FII buying

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher for a second straight day on Friday, following gains in IT, tech and capital goods shares amid fresh foreign capital inflows. After slipping briefly during the late afternoon trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex made a quick recovery and jumped 178.58 points or 0.25 per cent to settle at 72,026.15. During the day, it soared 308.91 points or 0.42 per cent to 72,156.48. The Nifty climbed 52.20 points or 0.24 per cent to 21,710.80. On a weekly basis, the BSE benchmark declined 214.11 points or 0.29 per cent, and the Nifty dipped 20.6 points or 0.09 per cent. The market capitalization (mcap) on BSE rose by Rs99,877.90 crore to Rs3,69,32,721.31 crore (Rs369.33 lakh cr).

“Markets traded volatile and ended marginally higher amid mixed cues. After the initial uptick, the Nifty drifted gradually lower and oscillated in a range till the end. Meanwhile, a mixed trend continued on the sectoral front wherein recovery in IT majors and follow-up buying in select heavyweights kept the traders occupied. The broader indices managed to edge higher for yet another session wherein smallcap gained over half a per cent,” said Ajit Mishra, SV-P (technical research), Religare Broking Ltd.

“Investors are also staying cautious ahead of Eurozone inflation data Friday. On the domestic front, the market is moving towards the results season, and we expect the exuberance of the broader index may be tested if the December quarter earnings do not justify the valuation,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

Among the Sensex firms, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Wipro were the major gainers.