Mumbai: Persistant inflow of foreign funds, coupled with expectations of healthy quarterly results and positive global cues, propelled the Indian equity markets to a new peak during the week ended Friday. The benchmark index NSE Nifty50, which converted into a five-digit figure, remained in the limelight.
Market observers opined that multiple factors contributed to the rally in the equity markets such as various government reforms, a strengthening economy, liquidity and cues from the US markets hitting fresh lifetime highs.
On July 25, The NSE Nifty50 climbed the 10,000-point-mark for the first time in its almost 22-year history. It took the index 4.3 months to move from 9,000 points to 10,000 points.
Although the Nifty was dragged lower from its peak by profit booking and expensive valuations, on the very next day -- July 26 -- the index closed firmly above the 10,000-point mark and also breached the 10,100-mark to register a fresh intra-day high of 10,114.85 points on July 27.
The other benchmark index -- the BSE Sensex -- too, scaled a fresh closing high of 32,382.46 points and a new intra-day high of 32,672.66 points during the week.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex rose by 280.99 points or 0.88 per cent to close at 32,309.88 points, while the Nifty closed at 10,014.50 points -- up 99.25 points or 1 per cent.
"Carrying on from the previous week, markets began the week on a positive note as it touched new life highs of 10,115. However, selling pressure brought the Nifty lower to touch a low of 9,944 on Friday," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
"A recovery soon followed with the Nifty ending the week with gains of one per cent. It was the fourth consecutive week of gains for the Nifty," he said.
Vijay Singhania, Director of Trade Smart Online, said the Nifty has rallied consecutively for the past four weeks, gaining over 650 points or 7 per cent from June's low of 9,448.
"Nifty scaled past the 10,000-market milestone, while Bank Nifty zoomed past the 25,000-mark for the first time ever. Highlight of the week was sharp rally in HDFC, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, which gained 4-16 per cent on decent set of results," said Singhania.
"A bout of volatility was witnessed as traders rolled over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from July 2017 series to August 2017 series. On-going earning season continued its impact on the market sentiment," Singhania added.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee closed the week at 64.15-16 to a US dollar.
According to D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director, SMC Investments and Advisors, the global stock markets were mostly higher during the week gone by, lifted by buoyant oil prices.
"The domestic markets celebrated the fact that Nifty has migrated from a four digit index to a five digit index -- now it is above 10,000 points. The confidence got stimulated on the back of strong foreign fund inflow and expectations of healthy quarterly results," Aggarwal told IANS.
"The steady foreign funds inflow ensured that there is enough liquidity to support the market despite lingering concerns over stretched valuations."
Provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that FIIs purchased stocks worth Rs 1,490.13 crore, while DIIs bought scrip worth Rs 900.62 crore during July 24-28.
Figures from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) revealed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) invested in a total of equities worth Rs 2,195.45 crore, or $342.6 million, during the week ended July 28.
The top weekly Sensex gainers were: HDFC (up 8.66 per cent at Rs 1,783.80), HDFC Bank (up 4.26 per cent at Rs 1,775.90), Adani Ports (up 3.87 per cent at Rs 396.10), State Bank of India (up 3.05 per cent at Rs 299.20) and Infosys (up 1.83 per cent at Rs 997.85).
The losers were: Dr. Reddy's Lab (down 10.79 per cent at Rs 2,462.05), Lupin (down 7 per cent at Rs 1,062.85), Axis Bank (down 4.66 per cent at Rs 515), Tata Motors (DVR) (down 4.62 per cent at Rs 261.90) and Sun Pharma (down 4.47 per cent at Rs 550.80).
