Agencies/Mumbai
Indian shares finished higher for a third consecutive session yesterday, paced by banks and metals, as most markets around the world remained firm following encouraging US economic data.
The Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share Sensitive Index rose 94.38 points, or 0.6%, to end at 16,158.28. It has gained 1.7% this week.
The index, which has lost 4.7% in the past one month, traded between 16,075.19 and 16,283.86 during the session.
“Markets are rebounding after a severe correction. We are taking cues mostly from the US,” said Ajay Parmar, head of institutional equities at Emkay Global Financial Services.
On the National Stock Exchange, the 50-stock S&P CNX Nifty closed up 30.60 points, or 0.6%, 4,796.15.
Suhas Samant, a fund manager at Mumbai-based brokerage Sharekhan, expects the Sensex to be rangebound because there aren’t any visible triggers.
“We expect this consolidation to continue for the next two weeks,” said Samant, who expects the benchmark index to trade in the 15,000-16,500 range over the next two weeks.
Total traded volume on the BSE was Rs59.99bn, a tad higher than Thursday’s Rs59.63bn. Gainers beat decliners 1,944 to 780, while 63 stocks remained unchanged.
Banks rose on value-buying, after having fallen sharply over the past few days on concerns that a tighter policy by the Reserve Bank of India would hurt profitability. The State Bank of India rose 3.1% to Rs2,204.20.
The rupee rose for a third day, the longest stretch of gains in a month, as signs the global economy is recovering from a recession buoyed demand for the nation’s assets.
The currency advanced to a two-week high after Australia’s central bank yesterday raised its economic growth forecast for 2009 and the US Labor Department on Thursday reported fewer claims for unemployment benefits than economists forecast. Overseas funds bought $14.2bn more of Indian shares than they sold this year through November 4, helping drive the Sensex 65% higher.
The rupee rose 0.5% to 46.815 per dollar at the 5pm close in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. |
