After almost four volatile and uncertain sessions, bulls were back on Dalal Street on Friday, driving the benchmark index to its highest single-day closing gain. In line with global markets, domestic markets recovered most of the past week?s losses, with the BSE Sensex gaining a record 1,139.92 points, or 6.62%, to close at 18,361.66 points. The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the NSE posted a gain of 360.75 points, or 7.17%, to end the day at 5,383.35 points.
However, the Sensex ended the week on a negative note, losing 652.04 points, or 3.43%, from its close a week ago, while the Nifty lost 321.95 points, or 5.6%.
Though, overall, markets were in positive territory on Friday, volumes were unimpressive, clearly indicating a lack of participation from certain investor segments. The total combined trading volume?or, number of shares traded?in the cash segment at both the stock exchanges was 79.40 crore shares, against the previous day’s volume of 105.18 crore shares. The combined turnover in the cash segment was Rs 18,624.49 crore, against Rs 23,588.83 crore on Thursday.
Experts believe that the $150-billion stimulus package announced by the Bush administration to prevent the US economy from spiralling into possible recession boosted investor confidence globally. Asian markets posted high gains on Friday. Hong Kong?s Hang Seng closed the day at 25,122.37 points, a gain of 1,583 points or 6.73%. Other regional markets moved in the 1-5% range.
Shahina Mukadam, head of equity research, IDBI Capital, said, ?We saw a fantastic rally on Friday mainly on the back of international cues. We also saw some short covering at stock-specific levels, which helped even broader markets end in positive territory.
Investors are also expecting an interest rate cut in India on the lines of the Fed rate cut. Developments in the US and European markets will definitely have some impact on Indian markets in the days to come.
