India’s benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 closed higher on Friday, ahead of the vote on the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition parties against the Narendra Modi-government in Parliament. The Sensex gained 145.14 points to close at 36,496.37 while Nifty 50 surged 53.10 points to finish at 11,010.20.
Sun Pharma, Infosys, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank were the top gainers on the Sensex. Stocks of Bajaj Auto, Vedanta, Hero Motorcorp, ONGC and Kotak Mahindra were the worst performers.
Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra and Cipla were the top gainers on Nifty 50 while stocks of Bajaj Auto, HPCL, Indian Oil Corp, Vedanta and BPCL were the biggest losers.
The rupee, which along with other Asian currencies, had reversed early losses on Friday morning. But it declined late in the afternoon and was trading at 68.95 against the dollar at 4.12 pm. The currency had closed at 69.05 on Thursday, and declined to a record low of 69.13 early on Friday, before recovering to 68.84 against the dollar at 1.45 pm.
Most other Asian markets closed higher, with the exception of Japan’s Nikkei 225. The Australia ASX All Ordinaries rose by over 22 points, the Shanghai SE Composite Index by over 56 points, the Hong Kong Hang Seng by 213.62 points and the Taiwan TSEC 50 Index by 96.73 points. The Japanese market, on the other hand, closed 66.80 points lower.
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