A recovery in the Indian rupee's value along with broadly positive global cues and a slower rise in wholesale price inflation for August pushed the Indian equity indices higher on Friday.Consequently, the S&P BSE Sensex was up by 0.99 per cent and the NSE's Nifty5O ended 1.28 per cent up from its previous close.Index-wise, the Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 11,515.20 points, higher by 145.30 points or 1.28 per cent from its previous close of 11,369.90 points.The barometer S&P BSE Sensex, which had opened at 37,939.29 points, closed at 38,090.64 points, higher by 372.68 points or 0.99 per cent from its previous close of 37,717.96 points.It touched an intra-day high of 38,125.62 points and a low of 37,859.52 points.In the broader markets, the S&P BSE Mid-cap rose by 1.62 per cent and the S&P BSE Small-cap ended 1.38 per cent higher from its previous close.The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1,811 advances against 850 declines. The total number of stocks traded on the exchange was 2,831, with 170 ending unchanged."The gains came on the back of positive global cues. The sentiment was also buoyed after data showed inflation eased in August, thereby increasing the likelihood that the RBI will not increase interest rates in October," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.
According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services: "Ease in inflation and recovery in rupee added optimism in the market.""Stability in yield and rupee will be crucial for the market momentum while investors have continued to stay cautious due to global triggers. The global peers also traded on a positive note in expectation of ease in trade tensions between US and China. Any redressal in tensions will provide enough headroom for the domestic market."On the currency front, the Indian rupee closed at 71.85, recovering 34 paise from its previous close of 72.19 per greenback.Investment-wise, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors bought scrip worth Rs 1,090.56 crore and domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 115.14 crore.Sector-wise, all the indices closed in the green. The S&P BSE consumer durables index gained 458.43 points, the banking index gained 363.38 points and the metal index was up by 311.52 points from its previous close.The top gainers on the Sensex were Vedanta, up 5.25 per cent at Rs 235.50; Power Grid, up 3.57 per cent at Rs 200.10; Asian Paints, up 3.04 per cent at Rs 1,331; NTPC, up 3 per cent at Rs 175; and Yes Bank, up 2.75 per cent at Rs 323.10 per share.The losers were Coal India, down 1.42 per cent at Rs 277.30; Infosys, down 1.01 per cent at Rs 735.20 per share.