Sensex surges 336 pts, Nifty tops 11,750 as crude oil eases

NEW DELHI: A huge fall in crude oil prices came as a breather for Indian stocks as benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty settled on a positive note on Friday. However, for the week the BSE index fell 0.20 per cent, while the NSE index managed a marginal 2-point gain.

Thanks to a fall in crude oil prices, which fell nearly 2 per cent, the rupee rebounded 20 paise against the US dollar, further boosting market sentiment.

BSE barometer Sensex settled 336 points or 0.87 per cent at 39,067 while NSE's Nifty ended at 11,755, up 113 points or 0.97 per cent.


Bank and IT stocks were the major contributors towards Sensex's rise.

The advance-decline ratio, however, remained to be on the side of the sellers, indicating jittery investors.

Market at a glance:
As many as 18 of out 30 Sensex stocks ended on a bullish note. Shares of Tata Steel with gains of nearly 7 per cent topped the leaderboard on Friday after the firm on Thursday reported Rs 2,430.92 crore profit (attributable to shareholders) for March quarter.

ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, TCS, SBI and Reliance Industries were among other top gainers, rising up to 3 per cent.

Tata Motors, on the other hand, was the worst performer. Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki too joined their peer on the loser list.

Metals, followed by banks, IT and energy logged the highest gains. Whereas, auto and consumer durables had a tough time as both these indices shed 1 per cent each.

BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap missed out on the rally, declining 0.44 per cent and 0.17 per cent.

Factors:

Oil prices dip
Oil prices dipped on Friday on expectations that Opec will raise output to counter shrinking exports from Iran after sanctions imposed by the United States, where crude stocks have swelled. Prices are still on course though for the longest run of weekly gains in years, as oil markets have tightened amid an OPEC output cut deal, sanctions on Venezuela and Iran and unsteady production in Libya.

At around 4 pm, WTI crude was at $64.25 a barrel, down 1.47 per cent and Brent Crude was at 72.50, down 1.53 per cent.

Rupee rebounds
The domestic currency appreciated against the US dollar on Friday, after taking a beating in the previous session. Rupee although still hovered below the 70-a-dollar mark. At around 4 pm it traded at 70.06 against the greenback.

Expert Take
Markets remained volatile for yet another day and settled with decent gains. After opening with an uptick, the benchmark index remained sideways for most part of the session and sudden surge in select index majors in the final hours further fuelled the up move. Mixed trend was witnessed on sectoral front wherein banking, metal and energy pack topped the gainer list. However, the broader indices remained under pressure and closed in red
-- Jayant Manglik, President - Retail Distribution, Religare Broking