Daily loss, but weekly gains

The Indian indices closed Friday's trading session with sharp fall after initial gains. BSE Sensex and Nifty ended down by nearly 0.6 per cent and 0.56 per cent on the last day of the week, after registering handsome gains on a weekly basis.

The BSE Sensex rose as much as 0.30 per cent to 38,500 and the Nifty 50 rose as much as 0.40 per cent to 11,550 in initial trades. The gains were largely backed by HDFC Banks record run. This made sure that Bank Nifty reached its all-time high of 30,000. Though things started on a positive note, the second half saw markets erase their gains. The benchmark indices Sensex fell 0.58 per cent or 222.14 points and closed at 38,164.61, while the 50-stock index ended 0.56 per cent lower, down by 64.15 at 11,456.90. The Nifty 500-share gauge ended 0.55 per cent lower.

On weekly basis markets gained after a long time. Indian equity benchmarks ended higher for the fifth straight week, despite a sharp fall on Friday. The benchmark indices clocked this year’s longest stretch of weekly gains. Sensex closed nearly 0.4 per cent higher this week at 38,164.61 and the NSE Nifty 50 ended the week at 11,456.90 after gaining nearly 0.3 per cent.

The rally showed by markets can be considered as a pre-election rally. Stellar gains were backed by strong cues from currency markets. The rupee gained more than 3 per cent against the US dollar in a span of one week.