Mumbai, May 23 (IANS) A benchmark index of Indian equities markets climbed 319 points or 1.31 percent to a record closing high of 24,693.35 points Friday, as capital goods and banking stocks rallied.
Healthy buying was also observed in oil and gas, metal and auto sectors, while marginal selling pressure was seen in the consumer durables sector.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 24,535.14 points, ended the day’s trade at 24,693.35 points, up 318.95 points or 1.31 percent from the previous day’s close at 24,374.40 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 24,745.86 points and a low of 24,470.78 points in trade.
“Markets continued to remain buoyant during the week, following the clear political mandate in favour of the BJP,” said Dipen Shah of Kotak Securities.
“The announcement of ministers to important portfolios next week and the budget in early July will be the important triggers, going ahead.”
The S&P BSE capital goods index surged by 310.86 points, bankex went up by 283.49 points, oil and gas index moved up by 244.41 points, metal index increased by 258.36 points and auto index inched up by points. However, consumer durables index slipped by 67.88 points.
The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also surged 90.70 points or 1.25 percent to end at record high of 7,367.10 points.
The prominent Sensex gainers included State Bank of India, up 9.69 percent at Rs.2,755.25; Tata Power, up 6.33 percent at Rs.105.75; Maruti Suzuki, up 5.32 percent at Rs.2,384.85; NTPC, up 4.39 percent at Rs.160.35; and ONGC, up 3.68 percent at Rs.407.50.
Of the 30 Sensex scrips, eight closed in the red. Among the major Sensex losers were Hindalco Inds, down 2.03 percent at Rs.152; HDFC Bank, down 1.63 percent at Rs.789.50; Infosys, down 1.31 percent at Rs.3,066.50; ITC, down 0.77 percent at Rs.342.15; and Hindustan Unilever, down 0.22 percent at Rs.561.25.
Among the Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.87 percent up, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up by 0.05 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.66 percent.
In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.17 percent down and the French CAC 40 Index was higher by 0.27 percent. Germany’s DAX Index had gained 0.05 percent at the closing bell here.