Heavy buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) on the back of high expectations about earnings in the forthcoming quarter helped the benchmark indices continue their ascent for the ninth consecutive week. According to provisional figures provided by the BSE, FIIs bought stocks worth over Rs 230 crore on Friday. During the week, they have been net buyers of approximately Rs 1,600 crore, taking the current year’s tally to $5.17 billion.
The 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) added 218.74 points to end the day at 17,933.14. The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained 57.30 points to close the day at 5,361.75.
Aneesh Srivastava, chief investment officer, IDBI Fortis Life Insurance said: “The earnings season will be positive and markets are likely to continue their winning streak. Current valuations are neither cheap nor expensive and any correction from current levels is a buying opportunity.” On Friday, all sectoral indices ended the day in green with BSE Bankex and BSE Capital Goods (CG) Index clocking maximum gains.
In the last one week, the Sensex has risen 1.36% while the broader Nifty surged 1.35%. On Friday, most Asian markets ended on a positive terrain, tracking positive cues from the US markets. US markets were in the green on Thursday following the release of strong sales data. “The momentum of FII buying is likely to continue in the coming days, as global interest rates are not likely to go up in the next two-three months. Also, developments in the eurozone are likely to have less impact in the days ahead,” added Srivastava.
The derivatives segment of NSE’s reported a turnover of over Rs 68,800 crore, down 8.4% compared to Thursday’s turnover, while the average daily turnover in the last six months stood at approximately Rs 76,600 crore.