Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Showing resilience and almost shrugging off the Hormuz crisis, the markets on Dalal Street on Friday jumped over 1 per cent as experts speculated that ‘displaced’ capital from countries like South Korea could anchor in India, the media reported.
While the 30-share BSE Sensex surged 1,096 points or 1.42 per cent to make an intraday high of 78,281 on Friday, the 50-share NSE Nifty registered a high of 24,367, up 295 points or 1.2 per cent. On the last working day of the week, Sensex gained 964.58 points (1.25 per cent) to end at 78151.45, while Nifty gained 261.55 points (1.09 percent) to close at 24334.30, respectively.
The surge in these benchmark indices was driven by the better performances in the first quarter, as the Q2 results poured in, and buying in IT, private banks and heavyweights like Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank.
On the sectoral front, Nifty Private Banks ended the day as the top gainer (2.12 per cent), followed by Nifty IT (up 1.75 per cent) and Nifty Auto (up 1.24 per cent). Among the top sectoral losers were Nifty Pharma (1.40 per cent) and Nifty Healthcare (1.28 per cent). The broader market indices, however, lagged, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 slipping 0.41 per cent and 0.21 per cent, respectively.
Market watchers said that a trigger for Friday’s rally could be the Q1FY27 results of major banks expected on Saturday (HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank), which, going by their first quarter credit and deposit growth, are likely to be strong.
From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank and TCS gained more than 3 per cent each. Reliance Industries and HUL shares surged over 2 per cent, followed by M&M, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and Infosys (up more than 1 per cent each). The losers included Sun Pharma, Trent, Airtel, UtraTech Cement, IndiGo and NTPC.
The Nifty IT index gained 1.75 per cent, with 8 constituents ending higher. Tech Mahindra was the top gainer as it climbed nearly 4 per cent after reporting a 28.4 per cent rise in consolidated net profit for the June quarter at Rs. 1,465 crore, and expressing confidence about the demand environment.
RIL shares closed 2.36 per cent higher at Rs.1,327.20, contributing 192 points to the Sensex’s rally. The company is viewed as supporting the market, as its results could come in better than expected. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Acis Bank also gained over 1.5 per cent each.
Despite the Hormuz crisis, markets are buzzing on the back of a strong Q1FY27 earnings season so far, which is likely to remain the key driver of sectoral and stock-specific performance.
The FIIs have turned positive in the last one month, even though they sold equity for Rs. 4206 crores on Thursday. They could find value in India if the rout continues in South Korea.
The Indian rupee gained 14 paise to 96.28 against the US dollar on Friday, buoyed by positive sentiments in the equity markets. It depreciated for the fourth straight day on Thursday, shedding 17 paise to settle at 96.42.