Sensex ends up 59 points; Nifty closes above 7,900

Markets ended higher on Friday led by IT exporters after upbeat US economic data indicated signs of an uptick in the world's largest economy.

Further, the benchmark Nifty, ended above 7,900 for the first time after hitting a fresh record high of 7,929.05 for the fourth time this week.

The BSE Sensex gained 0.23% or 59.44 points at 26, 419.55 while the CNX Nifty ended 0.28% or 22.10 points higher at record closing high of 7,913.20.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities to the tune of Rs 413 crore, as per provisional stock exchange data. Further, they were also huge buyers in the debt segment with purchases to the tune of Rs 16,072 crore ($2.65 billion) on Wednesday, as per Sebi data.

Home resales in the US surged to a 10-month high in July, factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region hit its highest level since March 2011 in August, and an indicator of future economic activity grew robust last month.

Further, the US Labour Department on Thursday said that initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended August 16, declined by 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 298,000.

The Bank Nifty also ended at a fresh record closing high of 15,819.15 after hitting a record high of 15,865.30 in intra-day trades.

Meanwhile, the broader markets ended mixed as the BSE Midcap 0.22% higher while the Small-cap index ended flat.

Rupee

The rupee strengthened on Friday to a 3-week high against the dollar after Bloomberg quoted an analyst at Standard & Poor's calling the government's target to lower the fiscal deficit a positive for the country's ratings.

The partially convertible rupee rose to as high as 60.3750 per dollar, its strongest level since July 31, but had eased to 60.55 by 16.00 PM. It closed at 60.61/62 on Thursday.

Global Markets

Japan's Nikkei stock average erased earlier gains and shed 0.3%, breaking its nine-session winning streak but still marking a robust 1.4% weekly gain. Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai gained nearly 0.5%.

Meanwhile, Britain's FTSE, Germany's and France's CAC has shed between 0.5-1.5%.

Sectors & Stocks

The BSE IT index gained over 1.5% while the banking index or the BSE Bankex gained 1%. BSE

Healthcare, Capital Goods and Metal indices ended with marginal gains.

In contrast, the BSE Realty index shed nearly 1% followed by the BSE FMCG and Power indices. The BSE Consumer Durables shed 0.17%.

Banking shares mainly PSUs ended higher on reports that the Finance ministry will take tough measures on rising scams in state-owned banks.

Among PSU banks, SBI, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank gained between 1.5-2.5% each. While private players such as Axis Bank and HDFC Bank gained over 0.5-2% each.

Shares of IT companies ended higher on the back of strong US economic data. TCS, Infosys, Persistent Systems, Tech Mahindra, Mindtree, HCL Technologies and Wipro ended up between 1-5% each.

Coal India was the top Sensex loser as the scrip shed over 2%. HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Hero Motocorp are other losers, all down between 1-2% each.

Among metal stocks, Hindalco jumped nearly over 2% while Sesa Sterlite ended 0.6% higher. Tata Steel gained marginally by 0.2%.

Shares of sugar manufactures were in demand and closed higher by up to 7% on the bourses on reports that the government may give some relaxations to the sugar industry after the World Trade organization (WTO) rejected India's contention on raw sugar export subsidy.

Dhampur Sugar Mills and Oudh Sugar Mills, Balrampur Chini Mills, Bajaj Hindustan up 7%, Shree Renuka Sugars and Mawana Sugars rallied between 1-5%.

Tilaknagar Industries surged 3% on media reports that Allied Blenders and Distillers, the country’s third-largest spirits company, is in talks to buyout the company.

Astral Poly Technik closed 4.5% higher on BSE ahead of board meeting on Monday to fix the record date for stock split from Rs 2 to Re 1 each.

Hotel Leela Venture gained 5% after the company issued a clarification on the media news item.

Hotel Leela Venture stated in the clarification with regard to news item titled "UK's Carnival Group offers Rs 850 crore to buy Leela Chennai" that the senior management of the company will continue to evaluate ways to raise funds/equity by different available options and has been approached by potential Investors.

Hotel Leela Venture addded that as soon as any discussion reaches a mature stage and binding agreement signed, the stock exchanges will be notified.

The market breadth was marginally negative on the BSE. 1,547 stocks declined while 1,465 stocks advanced.