Key Indian equity indices on Friday closed in the green for the second consecutive session riding on a sovereign ratings upgrade of the Indian government's bonds by US credit rating agency Moody's.According to market observers, the upward rally of the benchmark indices was supported by an inflow of foreign funds and healthy uptake in bank, metal and consumer durables stocks.The indices closed with handsome gains even though profit booking brought down the exponential rise which was witnessed during the morning and noon sessions.On a closing basis, the wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 68.85 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 10,283.60 points. The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE closed at 33,342.80 points -- up 235.98 points or 0.71 per cent -- from its Thursday's close.The BSE market breadth was bullish -- 1,615 advances and 1,135 declines.In terms of the broader markets, the BSE mid-cap closed higher by 1.03 per cent and the small-cap index by 0.81 per cent."Frontline indices rose sharply today on the back of Moody's upgrading India's sovereign ratings last night after a gap of 14 years. This will be favourable for the currency and bond markets in India and may have a beneficial rub-on effect on equity markets too," Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS."Foreign inflows into Indian markets may resume. Positive sentiments in the markets abroad also helped the equity markets in India today," said Jasani, adding: "A fall in the afternoon session curbed gains."Provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors invested in stocks worth Rs 1,276.62 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased scrips worth Rs 1,466.94 crore.
Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, said: "Indian markets, rupee and 10-year bond prices surged on Friday after credit rating agency Moody's Investors Services upgraded nation's sovereign ratings to Baa2 from its lowest investment grade and changed the outlook on the rating to stable from positive."On the currency front, the rupee strengthened by 31 paise to 65.01-02 against the US dollar from its previous close at 65.32-33.All the 19 sub-indices of the BSE closed in the green, except the IT index (down 150.29 points) and Teck index (down 67.55 points).The S&P BSE banking index surged by 339.48 points, consumer durables index by 293.85 points and metal index by 251.49 points."Shares of HDFC Standard Life Insurance debuted 7.24 per cent higher on the bourses on Tuesday, after the insurer's Rs 8,695 crore initial public offer (IPO) was subscribed nearly five times earlier this month," Desai told IANS."Nineteen stocks from BSE500 index hit 52-week highs," he added.Major Sensex gainers on Friday were: Cipla, up 2.64 per cent at Rs 608.65; HDFC, up 2.23 per cent at Rs 1,701; Maruti Suzuki, up 2.15 per cent at Rs 8,340.70; Tata Steel, up 2.14 per cent at Rs 701.35; and Tata Motors, up 1.92 per cent at Rs 421.45.Major Sensex losers were: Infosys, down 1.79 per cent at Rs 970.95; Tata Consultancy Services, down 1.33 per cent at Rs 2,710.10; ONGC, down 1.03 per cent at Rs 177.50; Wipro, down 0.97 per cent at Rs 294.75; and Asian Paints, down 0.76 per cent at Rs 1,171.10.