Friday gains help indices close another week on positive note

Benchmark equity indices-Sensex and Nifty closed with strong weekly gains for another week. This is the second consecutive week where markets ended with gains.

Sensex and Nifty closed the session higher by 1.47 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively for the week. Broader indices such as S&P BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap were also supportive, which registered weekly gains of 4.18 per cent and 5.05 per cent, respectively.

The sectoral indices represented by Nifty Pharma, Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal reported double digit weekly gains in the range of 15 per cent to 11 per cent. Though, due to lack of direct manpower owing to the lockdown, IT index registered a marginal gain of just one per cent.

The 30-share index Sensex is topped by Axis Bank, which closed with weekly gains of 22 per cent. It was followed by Vedanta (19.8 per cent), Tata Motor DVR (19.5 per cent), Maruti (18.6 per cent) and NTPC (13 per cent) in terms of weekly gainers. The index saw as many as 10 stocks with weekly gains suggesting a strong momentum. Nifty toppers included Indiabulls Housing Finance (31 per cent) and Hindalco (23.50 per cent).

Top developments over the week were extension of lockdown till May 3, 2020 and RBI’s decision of repo rate. While Coronavirus infected number breached 13,000 mark in India; the rise in number continues to be a matter of concern.