Stock market off high inflation numbers with its third consecutive day of gain as its benchmark.
MUMBAI: Stock market on Friday shrugged off high inflation numbers with its third consecutive day of gain as its benchmark Sensex rose 81 points on strong buying in banking majors like ICICI Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share barometer index settled the day at 17,434.94 points, up 81.40 points or 0.47 per cent from its previous close.
Buying in shares of pharma major Ranbaxy, telecom giant Reliance Communications, FMCG firm HUL as well as that of L&T, Tata Motors, Jaiprakash Associates, also aided to the gain.
The index rose to an intra-day high of 17,497.36 points, after opening higher by nearly 144 points, but pared some of the gains on profit booking at higher levels in some key blue-chip stocks.
The Sensex has risen by over 680 points or over four per cent in the past three trading sessions. It ended the week with a gain of close to 700 points or about 4.2 per cent.
Firm European markets at the opening and mixed Asian trend with positive bias helped Friday’s rally. Metal and banking counters were among the major gainers.
National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty index settled 42.45 points or 0.83 per cent higher at 5,157.70 points.
Earlier on Friday morning, the market opened on a positive note on firm global cues as well as heavy buying by foreign funds but fell in the negative terrain after the government data showed inflation hitting its highest level of 7.83 per cent in nearly four years.
However, it recovered from the day's lows on selective buying at lower levels.
European markets opened firm by nearly one per cent while Asian markets ended mixed on Friday. The Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan indices closed in positive terrain while China and Japan finished weak.
Among index pack, Ranbaxy firmed up by 3.29 per cent, Reliance Com by 2.18 per cent, HUL by 2.14 per cent, HDFC Bank by 1.77 per cent, SBI by 1.39 per cent, ICICI Bank by 1.34 per cent, Jaiprakash Associates by 1.69 per cent, L&T by 1.14 per cent, Tata Motors by 1.07 per cent and Tata Steel by 1.02 per cent.
However, Infosys declined by 1.07 per cent, ACL by 1.07 per cent
The BSE-100 index improved further by 74.65 points to 9,227.28 points. The BSE-200 and the Dollex-200 were quoted higher at 2,163.60 points and 842.51 points at close from last close of 2,146.00 points and 839.88 points.
The BSE-500 index also rose by another 53.13 points to 6,897.67 points while the Dollex-30 softened to 3,347.93 points from 3,349.14 points previously.
The market breadth remained positive as 1,548 counters ended with gains while 1,136 that finished with losses.
Trading volume was relatively low at Rs 6,136.91 crore from Rs 6,484.97 crore on Thursday.
Aishwarya Tel remained on the top with the highest turnover of Rs 358.36 crore followed by HDIL (Rs 177.88 crore), RIL (Rs 171.95 crore), SAIL (Rs 171.21 crore) and Reliance Com (Rs 170.10 crore).
The stock markets, BSE and NSE, will remain closed on May 19, 2008, on account of 'Buddha Pournima'.
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