Sensex, Nifty end higher; metal, tech stocks gain

The BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange Nifty edged higher on Friday, but continued to stay away from their record highs hit early in the week, as investors booked profits in some recent outperformers such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp, while buying into relative underperformers such as Tata Motors.

Both the Nifty and the Sensex hit record highs on Tuesday, bolstered by continued buying from foreign investors, with net purchases of $117.87 million on Thursday, their 23rd buying session in the previous 24.

Still, some of the momentum has waned. Nifty ended the week down 0.2 per cent, its second consecutive week of falls, and 1.2 per cent away from its record high of 6,574.94 hit on Tuesday.

Profit-taking after a strong rally, and some global factors, including a bout of selling tied to concerns that the US Federal Reserve would raise interest rates earlier than expected, have pressured shares.

"We are cautiously optimistic in the near term. The undercurrent is positive, but profit-taking is expected in select sectors and stocks. We will continue to see sectoral rotations-like that we saw in information technology," said Deven Choksey, managing director at K R Choksey Securities. "We may see fresh positions building up after the monthly derivatives contract expiry, in the coming week."

The Sensex on Friday closed 13.66 points, or 0.06 per cent, higher at 21,753.75. It lost 0.26 per cent this week. The Nifty closed up 10.10 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 6,493.2.

Relative underperformers in the recent rally continued to gain, with Tata Motors up 2.5 per cent after falling 8.9 per cent this month as of Thursday's close.

Meanwhile, Tata Consultancy Services rose 0.9 per cent, after being hit earlier this week after saying revenue growth could slow this quarter from the previous quarter. Shares had fallen 7.4 per cent this month as of Thursday.

Axis Bank rose 2.7 per cent on speculation that its weightage in FTSE indexes is due to increase when the index provider rejigs the composition of its benchmarks after the close of markets on Friday.

The speculation on FTSE offset pressure earlier in the day, when Axis Bank shares fell as much as 2.6 per cent, as the government raised more than $900 million by selling a nine per cent stake in the bank.

However, shares speculated to be losing some weightage in FTSE indexes fell. Reliance Industries fell 2.2 per cent.

ONGC fell 2.98 per cent, with some profit-taking hitting the stock after gaining 8.4 per cent this month as of Thursday's close.

Blue chips broadly recovered from Thursday's fall, with State Bank of India up 1.44 per cent after losing 1.81 per cent in the pervious session.