Indian markets ended the week on a positive note on Friday, with the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex gaining 167.48 points to close at 28,468.75 and the National Stock Exchange Nifty closing 43.70 points to end at 8,821.70. The markets were led by private banks and pharmaceutical companies, with their sectoral sub-indices on the Nifty also closing in the green.
HDFC Bank was among the day’s top gainers, adding 9.5% to its share value during intra-day trading. The stock closed 3.55% higher despite the Reserve Bank of India placing the company on its ban list for Foreign Institutional Investors after their shareholding crossed the designated 74% limit. Other banks including Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited and IDFC Bank Limited gained between 0.44%-1.78%. The Nifty Bank Index also closed 1.52% higher.
Among pharmaceutical companies, Aurobindo Pharma Limited, Cipla Limited, and Lupin Limited closed 1.06%, 1.44% and 0.98% higher. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited was the day’s biggest gainer, rising by 3.67% to close at Rs 673.10 a share. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices also closed 0.53% and 0.40% higher.
Meanwhile, Asian markets closed lower following losses by Wall Street stocks as well as the arrest of Samsung executive Jay Y Lee on bribery charges, AP reported. While Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.4% lower, Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.6%. Separately, South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.1% lower, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell by 0.2%. CMC Markets Analyst MY Yan said the future outlook for markets was “clouded by rising political uncertainties and waves of anti-globalisation sentiments from the United States and Europe”.
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