Indian markets ended Friday, the final trading session of the calendar year, on a positive note, with the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex rising 260.31 points to end at 26,626.46 and the National Stock Exchange Nifty closing 82.20 points higher at 8,185.80. The benchmark indices of both the BSE and the NSE gained 1.95% and 3% in the calendar year, NDTV reported.
Broader markets also saw gains during the Friday’s session, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap gaining 1.15% and 0.97%. Aurobindo Pharma was the top gainer on the Nifty, rising by 3.21%. Other top performers of the day included ITC, Sun Pharma and ICICI, which rose between 2%-3.5%. Hindalco Industries saw the biggest gain of year, with its share price gaining 82%, Business Standard reported.
Analysts said Indian markets were optimistic about the next few months. “Markets remain in [a] comfortable zone, most of the lull was over in the last month,” said KR Choksey Securities Managing Director Deven Choksey. Geojit BNP Paribas Head of Research Vinod Nair said markets were also expecting “radical remarks” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his speech on New Year’s Eve. “Additionally, expectations of tax sops in [the] budget, [the] weakness of [the United States] dollar and robust tax collection are adding [to the] positive sentiment,” he said.
Other Asian markets traded flat in the last session of the year. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng went up 0.84% while Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.40%. Shanghai traded up 0.11%. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.07% lower on Thursday.
After sharp falls in Indian stocks on Monday, analysts said markets were likely to remain dull this week, keeping the year-end holidays in mind. However, bourses rebounded on Tuesday, with the Sensex gaining 406.34 points and the Nifty ending 124.60 points higher. Markets then ended on a flat note on Wednesday and gained on Thursday following rollovers by traders.
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