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Markets continue to trade firm amid choppy trades led by banking and information technology shares.
At 14.45 PM, the BSE Sensex gained 58 points at 26, 422 while the CNX Nifty was up 21 points at 7,921.
Earlier in the day, Nifty hit a record high of 7,929.05, marking its fourth record high this week, surpassing the previous all-time high on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the broader markets is trading in line with the benchmark indices as the BSE Midcap and Small-cap indices have gained nearly 0.3%
Rupee
The rupee strengthened on Friday to a 3-week high against the dollar after Bloomberg quoted an analyst at Standard & Poor's calling the government's target to lower the fiscal deficit a positive for the country's ratings. The partially convertible rupee rose to as high as 60.3750 per dollar, its strongest level since July 31, but had eased to 60.48 by 13.30 PM. It closed at 60.61/62 on Thursday.
Asian Markets
Japan's Nikkei stock average erased earlier gains and shed 0.3%, breaking its nine-session winning streak but still marking a robust 1.4% weekly gain. Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai gained nearly 0.5%.
Meanwhile, Britain's FTSE, Germany's and France's CAC are trading flat.
Sectors & Stocks
The BSE IT index has surged over 1% while the banking index or the BSE Bankex has gained nearly 1%. Capital Goods index has gained over 0.5%.
In contrast, the BSE Realty index has shed nearly 1% followed by the BSE FMCG and Power indices. The BSE Oil & Gas, Metal, Consumer Durable and Auto indices are trading flat.
Banking shares mainly PSUs are in demand and trading higher on reports that the Finance ministry will take tough measures on rising scams in state-owned banks. Among PSU banks, SBI, Union Bank of India and Bank of Baroda have gained between 2-4% each. While private players such as Axis Bank and HDFC Bank have gained over 1% each.
Shares of IT companies are trading higher on the back of strong US economic data. U.S. data on Thursday showed home resale rose to a 10-month high in July, factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region hit its highest level since March 2011 in August, and a gauge of future economic activity grew solidly last month. TCS, Infosys, Persistent Systems, Tech Mahindra, Mindtree, HCL Technologies and Wipro are up between 1-3.5% each.
Coal India is the top Sensex loser as the scrip shed over 2%. HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy’s lab are other losers, all down between 1-2% each.
Among metal stocks, Hindalco has jumped nearly 3% while Sesa Sterlite is up nearly 1%. Tata Steel has gained marginally by 0.2%.
Shares of sugar manufactures are in demand and trading higher by up to 7% on the bourses on reports that the government may give some relaxations to the sugar industry after the World Trade organization (WTO) rejected India's contention on raw sugar export subsidy. Dhampur Sugar Mills and Oudh Sugar Mills have rallied 8% each at Rs 55.25 and 24.45 respectively on the BSE. Balrampur Chini Mills and Bajaj Hindustan up 7% each at Rs 72.85 and Rs 24.15 respectively, followed by Shree Renuka Sugars (up 5% to Rs 21.30) and Mawana Sugars (4% at Rs 13.25).
Tilaknagar Industries is trading higher by 1.5% on media reports that Allied Blenders and Distillers, the country’s third-largest spirits company, is in talks to buyout the company.
United Spirits has dipped nearly 2% on the NSE, after the exchange has excluded the company from its equity derivatives segment, since the company has not submitted results for 2013-14 and the quarter ended 30 June.
Astral Poly Technik is trading 3% higher at Rs 821 on BSE ahead of board meeting on Monday to fix the record date for stock split from Rs 2 to Re 1 each.
