Nifty ends at record close for 2nd straight session, up 2.5% for the week

The Nifty has gained 2.6% so far this week, while the Sensex has climbed 2.85%

Benchmark indices settled the day marginally high with Nifty50 index hitting another fresh closing of 9,160 even as markets pared gains in the later half of the day on profit booking. Rupee also eased after hitting a 17-month high on Thursday and was  trading at 65.55 from its close of 65.42

 
The Nifty index rose as much as 65 points to 9,218, surpassing its previous all-time high of 9,158 hit yesterday, post US Federal Reserve maintained an accommodative stance.  The S&P BSE Sensex, on the other hand, gained 239 points in intraday trade to 29,824 level.
 
The Sensex settled the day at 29,649, up 63 points, while the broader Nifty50 ended at 9,160, up 6 points.
 
Broader market underperformed the frontline indices with BSE Midcap down 0.14% and BSE Smallcap up 0.04%.
 
The Nifty has gained 2.5% so far this week, while the Sensex has climbed 2.85%, in what is their highest weekly gain since the end of January.

"A stupendous victory for the ruling party in the state elections and inline outlook for FED rate hike has created a euphoria in the domestic markets. Nifty broken its major resistance level of 9,000 and continued its upward journey breaking all the psychological levels. The under current is strong as new money from both FIIs and DIIs continue to pour in spite of high valuation. Rupee also strengthened to a fresh 16 months high led by foreign inflows. Further, fall in crude prices and positive cues from GST council meeting added color to this rally," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
 
The index hit an all-time high after the GST council yesterday cleared five draft bills, setting the stage for implementing the landmark tax reform by July 01. These will later be submitted to the parliament and state assemblies for approval.
 
Market sentiment was also bolstered as PM Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the key state elections in Uttar Pradesh, and after the US Federal Reserve stuck to its planned tightening pace this year.
                                              
Sectors and Stocks

The BSE FMCG index settled 2.4% after cigarette maker ITC rose over 7% at intra-day after the GST Council capped the cess on tobacco and cigarettes at 290% or Rs 4,170 per 1,000 cigarette sticks. ITC ended 4.6% higher.
 
Other cigarette stocks such as Godfrey Phillips, VST Industries and Golden Tobacco gained today on the BSE.
 
Capital goods, Auto, Bankex, telecom indices were trading in red during the afternoon deal. Bharti Airtel, SBI, L&T and Tata Motors were the biggest laggards on BSE Sensex.
 
Telecom index was the top sectoral loser, down 2.7% with Bharti Airtel dragging the index. The stock settled the day over 4% lower after the company said its shareholders have approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 10,000 crore in debt.
 
Global Markets
 
Asian stocks advanced on Friday and looked set for their best week since July, while the dollar extended a slide that began after the Federal Reserve indicated it was unlikely to speed up monetary tightening.
 
But European markets were trading lower today with DAX down 0.28%, France's CAC 40 trading 0.11% lower and London's FTSE 100 falling 0.07%.
 
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3% and was on track to end the week with a 3.5% gain, its biggest increase since the week ended July 15. Japan's Nikkei closed down 0.4%, ending the week with a 0.4% loss.
 
Chinese stocks slipped 0.6% as investors sought more evidence of a sustainable economic recovery, but indexes were set for a 1% increase for the week.
 
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index touched its highest level since August 2015 on Friday. While up only marginally on the day, it was on track for a 3.2% gain for the week, its biggest since September.
 
MSCI's all-country world stock index held near Thursday's all-time high on Friday, on track to end the week 1% higher.
 
Markets are also keeping an eye on the Group of 20 finance leaders' meeting in Germany this weekend, where topics including protectionism, exchange rates and reforms to boost economic growth are expected to be on the agenda.