Mumbai, June 5 (IANS) Indian equities advanced this week, recouping earlier losses, even as uncertainty about global economic recovery persisted as the euro-zone deficit crisis spread to Hungary and the US reported a lower-than-forecast jobs growth in May.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rose 1.5 percent or 254.63 points to end at 17,117.69 points Friday.
The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too ended the week on a high at 5,304.1 points, up 68.95 points or 1.36 percent.
Broader indices also closed in the green with the BSE midcap index gaining 1.99 percent and the BSE smallcap index moving up 1.72 percent.
Reports that UAE-based Etisalat is interested in taking a 25 percent stake in Reliance Communications sent the stock soaring 14.03 percent higher from its previous close to end the week at Rs.168.15.
Other major gainers were Maruti Suzuki (8.6 percent), Hindustan Unilever (6.5 percent), Bharti Airtel (6 percent), ONGC (5.1 percent) and Reliance Infra (5.1 percent).
Top losers included Grasim (4.1 percent), Tata Power (2.5 percent), Tata Steel (2.3 percent), Hindalco (2.2 percent) and HDFC (1.5 percent).
The sectors that gained the the most during the week were auto (4.4 percent), healthcare (2.1 percent), banking (1.9 percent), and IT (1.8 percent).
According to data with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), foreign institutional investors bought scrips worth $254.07 million.
In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei ended the week with a 2.71 percent gain at 9,901.19 points, after political uncertainty ended with the resignation of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
The Hang Seng of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange closed at 19,780.07 points, 1.79 percent higher. The Chinese Shanghai composite index ended at 2,553.59 points, down 3.85 percent from its previous week’s close, after a drop in factory output shook investor confidence.
Most European indices ended in the red, given the uncretainty sorrounding the euro zone.
London’s FTSE was down 1.33 percent to close the week at 5,126 points. Its French peer CAC ended 1.98 percent lower at 3,455.61 points while the German DAX closed flat at 5,938.88 points.
In the US, benchmark indices such as the Nasdaq fell 2.57 percent to close the week at 2,219.17 points, and the S&P 500 was down 3.46 percent at 1,064.88 points.
The Dow Jones industrial average, also closed in the red, at 9,931.97 points, down 3.19 percent.
After markets closed Friday, the Indian government said listed companies must have 25 percent minimum public holding – a move that analysts said would boost sentiment and the market could see a deluge of primary offers worth nearly $45 billion in the days to come.
The new regulations call for all existing and proposed listings to achieve the minimum threshold level. Existing listed companies having less than 25 percent public holding have to reach the minimum level by an annual addition of not less than 5 percent.
‘The companies will have alternate modes of increasing the public shareholding to 25 percent, through FPOs, QIPs, or open market sales by the promoters. The Indian markets will get bombarded with series of stake sale offerings,’ said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, equity head at SMC Capitals.
