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The benchmark indices snapped four-week losing streak amid a slew of reforms announced by the government, with automobile shares leading the gains on expectations of robust sales during the festive season.
The week saw ‘Muhurat’ trading ushering in Samvat 2071 (the new year, based on the lunar calendar).
For the week ended Thursday, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed with a gain of 742 points, or 2.8 per cent, at 26,851, while the National Stock Exchange 50-share Nifty closed at 8,015, up 235 points, or 2.9 per cent.
After announcing a gas price rise and de-regulating diesel prices in the previous week, the government continued its reforms initiatives, proposing to open the coal sector to the private sector and auction the coal blocks, whose allocations were cancelled by the Supreme Court.
Gainers, losers
Among Sensex stocks, Tata Motors was the top gainer, rising 8.7 per cent. Hero MotoCorp ended up 8.3 per cent, after the company told stock exchange it expected to clock sales of about 150,000 units on Dhanteras (October 21), 40-50 per cent growth over the sales on Dhanteras day last year.
Maruti Suzuki rose 7.5 per cent, Bajaj Auto 6.5 per cent and Mahindra & Mahindra 0.9 per cent.
Larsen & Toubro gained 7.4 per cent, after the company said it had successfully closed the offering of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs). The company issued 1,000 five-year FCCBs at $200,000 a bond, with a coupon rate of 0.675 per cent and convertible into 6,346,986 shares.
Metal and power stocks gained after the government said it would promulgate an ordinance to resolve issues arising out of the cancellation of coal blocks.
In the metals pack, Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel ended with gains of 2.5-6.9 per cent.
Among power stocks, NTPC rose 4.2 per cent, while Tata Power gained three per cent.
HDFC Bank gained 1.3 per cent. For the quarter ended September, the bank reported a 20.1 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 2,382 crore, compared with Rs 1,982 crore in the year-ago period.
Mortgage lender HDFC closed 3.5 per cent higher, after it reported an 8.8 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,064.36 crore for the September quarter.
Week ahead
The markets are likely to remain volatile, ahead of the expiry of October futures and options contracts.
Among the major companies that will announce their September quarter earnings are Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Grasim, Tech Mahindra, Nestle, Lupin, ACC, Ambuja Cements, Maruti Suzuki and Bharti Airtel.
The US Federal Open Market Committee’s monetary policy review is scheduled for October 28 and 29.
