Q4 boost buoys bourses

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed higher for a second straight day on Friday as buying in index majors M&M, Reliance Industries, and ITC helped the indices rebound from early lows. However, relentless foreign fund outflows capped the sharp gains in domestic equities, traders said. In a largely range-bound trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 253.31 points, or 0.34 per cent, to settle at 73,917.03 points. NSE Nifty advanced 62.25 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 22,466.10 points.

“Despite mixed global signals and uncertainties surrounding the US Fed, the Indian market experienced a robust recovery, largely fuelled by the outperformance of the broader market and positive Q4 earnings. Further, some index heavyweight earnings surpassed expectations, and midcap and smallcap stocks continued to exhibit buying interest during dips. Auto and consumer durables particularly stood out with strong earnings momentum,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

“World equities were mostly lower on Friday as traders now expect just one rate cut in 2024, though Chinese stocks reversed earlier losses following the announcement of fresh measures to revive the ailing property market,” said Deepak Jasani, head (retail research), HDFC Securities.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge rose 1.18 per cent and smallcap index gained 1.39 per cent. Sectorally, consumer durables jumped 2.41 per cent, followed by auto (1.80 per cent), realty (1.68 per cent), metal (1.50 per cent), commodities (1.55 per cent), industrials (1.26 per cent) and oil & gas (1.19 per cent). On the other hand, IT and tech were the laggards.