Mumbai, May 29 (IANS) Indian equities advanced this week as concern about the euro zone debt crisis eased a bit after China assured the world it was not selling European bonds and investors and traders indulged in some bottom fishing after last week’s sell-off.
Market sentiment was also boosted by a rapprochement between the Ambani brothers. Mukesh and Anil Ambani in identical statements May 23 said they were ‘hopeful and confident’ of creating an ‘environment of harmony, co-operation and collaboration’ after ending a 2006 non-compete accord.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rose 2.54 percent or 417.45 points to end at 16,863.06 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 135.4 points or 2.74 percent.
Broader indices also closed in the green with the BSE midcap index gaining 1.01 percent and the BSE smallcap index moving up 0.94 percent.
The top gainers on the 30-scrip Sensex were Reliance Power (12.8 percent), Reliance Infrastructure (6.9 percent), Tata Motors (5.6 percent), TCS (4.5 percent) and ITC (4.4 percent).
Among major losers were Grasim (24.7 percent), ACC (4.3 percent), Tata Steel (2.4 percent), Bharti Airtel (2.1 percent) and SBI (1.4 percent).
The sectors that gained the the most during the week were realty (4.1 percent), oil and gas (3.4 percent), IT (3.2 percent), and healthcare (2.3 percent).
According to data with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth $805.59 million.
In Asia, China’s assurance that it was retaining its investment in Europe soothed nerves, boosting market confidence and commodity prices.
The Chinese Shanghai composite index ended Friday at 2,655.77 points, up 2.8 percent from its previous week’s close, while the Hang Seng of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange closed at 19,766.71 points, 1.13 percent higher.
The Japanese Nikkei ended the week flat at 9,762.98 points, down 0.22 percent.
European stocks also gained during the week.
London’s FTSE was up 2.48 percent to close the week at 5,188.43 points. Its French peer CAC ended 2.46 percent higher at 3,515.06 points while the German DAX closed at 5,946.18 points, up 2.01 percent.
US markets too put an end to the losing spree.
For the week, benchmark indices such as the Nasdaq gained 1.26 percent to close Friday at 2,257.04 points, and the Standard and Poor’s 500 was up 0.16 percent at 1,089.41 points.
The Dow Jones industrial average, however, closed 0.56 percent lower at 10,136.63 points.
