Sensex, Nifty post first weekly loss in 3 weeks; IT stocks rally on weak rupee

The Sensex and Nifty ended higher on Friday, but finished marginally lower for the week, helped by gains in IT stocks such as Infosys on a weaker rupee, while investors awaited the outcome of a no-confidence motion against the government. The Sensex rose 145.14 points to end at 36,496.37, while the broader Nifty50 was up 53.10 points to close at 11,010.20.

For the week, the NSE index ended 0.08 per cent lower, while the BSE index slipped 0.12 per cent. It was the first weekly loss in three weeks for Sensex and Nifty.  

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices added 0.7 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, remained negative. On the BSE, 1,405 stocks declined, 1,154 stocks rallied, while 136 stocks remained unchanged. 

Infosys ended 2.4 per cent higher at Rs 1348.35 on the BSE. 

Shares in energy and financial sectors also advanced, with Reliance Industries ending up 2.2 per cent, while Bajaj Finance finished 8 per cent higher.

"In the backdrop of an impending no-confidence motion against the ruling NDA government, the equity benchmark indices hovered in a tight range with positive bias. The Nifty index ended with decent gains of 0.5% to close at 11010. The broader markets performed largely in line with the benchmark with BSE Midcap and BSE smallcap ending with gains of 0.7 per cent and 0.4 per cent. The sector indices witnessed mixed trend. While healthcare, IT and Realty were the top gainer, Oil & Gas, Metal and Autos were the laggards," said Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking.

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"We expect markets to remain volatile in the near term. On the global front, US-China trade war talks along with movement in crude oil prices and currency would be keenly tracked by investors. The ongoing corporate earnings season will also result in stock specific volatility. Hence, we would advise traders to remain cautious and avoid risky leveraged positions," he added.  

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 470.02 crore yesterday, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold equities to the tune of Rs 315.69 crore, as per stock exchanges' data.