Key equity indices ended the day with marginal gains after recouping from initial losses on more buying by foreign funds during the last hours of the trading session on Friday.
The bourses started in negative terrain on the back of weak cues from the global markets but managed to finish higher despite fall in the industrial output, which shed 0.4% in October from a year earlier.
The 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed at 9,690.07 points, gaining 44.61 points or 0.46%. Dealers in the markets said that after the government announced its stimulus package of rate cuts, extra spending and duty cuts last week-end, the benchmark indices were not dented by worries of a slowing economy in the past four trading session.
The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 1.20 points, or 0.04%, higher to end the day at 2,921.35 points. An analyst from a leading broking house said, ?The day started on an apprehensive note due to weak cues from Asian and European markets. The markets were pushed further down after collapse of the US auto bailout package. However, some intense buying in the benchmark heavyweight?s such as Reliance and DLF pulled up the markets which closed in the green.?
Dealers in the market also added that on expectation of further rates cut by the central bank and other stimulus package by the government lifted the outlook of the domestic markets. In the BSE sectoral indices, there was mixed response, as IT, teck, healthcare, auto and public sector undertaking ended the day in red, while other sectors such as realty, consumer durables and oil and gas were the top performers. Despite the trading session being volatile, market breadth remained positive, as out of 2,479 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,547 stocks advanced, 851 declined and 81 remained unchanged. Among Sensex stocks, 17 ended in green and the remaining 13 ended the day in the red.
Dealers in the market also added, ?We have witnessed some buying from foreign institutional investors. However, we may witness some measures from the government as well as the Reserve Bank of India to further infuse more liquidity into the markets.