Bourses see gains on Sitharaman's pep talk

Mumbai: Indian equities rose for the sixth straight session on Friday, the longest gaining streak since mid-March, boosted by unabated foreign fund inflows and positive Brexit developments.

The BSE benchmark Sensex closed 246.32 points or 0.63 per cent higher at 39,298.38. It hit an intra-day high of 39,361.06 and a low of 38,963.60. The NSE gauge Nifty too rose 75.50 points or 0.65 per cent to settle at 11,661.85.

Both benchmark indices also posted their second consecutive weekly rise. During the week, the Sensex advanced 1,171.30 points or 3.07%, and the Nifty gained 356.80 points or 3.15%.

Sectorally, among the top gainers were BSE power, capital goods, realty, utilities, metal and energy indices -- rising as much as 2.63 per cent. All 19 sectoral indices ended in the green. In broader market, BSE midcap, smallcap and largecap indices outperformed the Sensex.

Foreign portfolio investors (FIIs) bought equities worth $1.2 billion over the past five trading sessions, while domestic institutional investors poured in $263 million into stock market. FIIs purchased Rs 1,158.63 crore shares on Thursday, stock exchange data showed.

Market experts also said that investor sentiment is upbeat after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hinted at further stimulus in FY20.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee appreciated marginally to 71.13 against the US dollar intra-day. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.12 per cent to $59.98 per barrel.