Three days of gain, 3-month high for key Indian equity indices (Weekly Roundup)

The short trading week of three days saw key Indian equity indices shoot up over 3.75 percent, mainly on news that monsoon rain this year is expected to be above normal, the country's factory output is again on the growth path and inflation is easing further.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which had closed last week at 24,673.84 points, ended on Wednesday -- the last trading day, with Thursday and Friday being holidays -- at 25,626.75 points with a gain of 952.91 points, or 3.86 percent.

Likewise, the 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), which had ended last week at 7,555.20 points, closed for week under review at 7,850.45. In then process, it also made a large gain of 295.25 points or 3.91 percent.

The market mood was also inclined more towards the blue chip stocks. Both the BSE's mid-cap index and the small cap index rose at a relatively lower pace than the Sensex -- by 3.03 percent and 2.61 percent, respectively.

"The above-normal monsoon forecast and the ease of retail inflation below the Reserve Bank's 2016-17 estimate of 5 percent have steered the market to a three months high," said Vinod Nair, head of research with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

"On the global front, rebound in export data has added impetus to the Chinese market," he said.

"Better-than-expected industrial output and consumer price index data also cheered the market," added Vaibhav Agarwal, vice president at Angel Broking, referring to the 2 percent growth in factory output in February and a decline in inflation from 5.26 percent to 4.83 percent.

Foreign funds were not so upbeat on Monday and emerged net sellers to the tune of $4.94 million on the equities side on the first day of the trading week. Even on the next two days, their net picks were not that high, valued at $23.45 million and $64.41 million, respectively.

On Monday, value buying and a rebound in the global markets saw the Sensex gain 348.32 points or 1.41 percent. Tuesday saw the 30-share index rise 123.43 points or 0.49 percent and the momentum picked up further on Wednesday with a spike of up 481.16 points or 1.91 percent.

"All major sectoral indices ended the week with gains. Autos, banks and infrastructure indices outperformed rest of the market. Top weekly gainers in Nifty were Tata Motors, Hindalco, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank and Bharat Heavy Electricals," said Nitasha Shankar, of Yes Securities.

"The only stock in Nifty to end the week in the negative was Coal India," Shankar, who is senior vice president for research, told IANS. "The coming week would see a slew of result announcements kicking off the earnings season," she added.

Within the BSE, the auto index rose the most at little over 7.35 percent, the banking index was up 4.79b percent, and that for power ended 4.01 percent higher. The consumer goods index and the oil and gas index, also gained 3.41 percent and 3.27 percent, respectively.

Looking ahead, analyst like Dhruv Desai, director, Tradebulls, all eyes will be on the results.

"Bulls reclaimed gains ahead of earning session. Profit booking was seen in the global markets on the last session. But the week as such as shown gains. The next major influencing factor for the markets will be the earning season."