Mumbai March 10 (IANS) Strong rupee coupled with fresh inflow of foreign funds and positive global cues marginally lifted the Indian equity markets on Friday.
The key indices closed on a flat-to-positive note as healthy buying was witnessed in capital goods automobile and IT stocks.
However caution prevailed ahead of the release of the macro-economic industrial production data -- Index of Industrial Production (IIP) -- slated for later in the day.
Besides investors remained cautious ahead of the five state assembly elections results on Saturday and over a possible US interest rate hike during the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meet next week.
The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was up 7.55 points or 0.08 per cent to 8 934.55 points.
The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE which opened at 29 006 points closed at 28 946.23 points -- up 17.10 points or 0.06 per cent from the previous close at 28 929.13 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 29 076.63 points and a low of 28 851.04 points during the intra-day trade.
In contrast the BSE market breadth was tilted in favour of bears -- with 1 663 declines and 1 135 advances.
The broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE mid-cap index edged lower by 0.25 per cent and the small-cap index was down by 0.12 per cent.
On Thursday the benchmark indices closed on a flat note as the NSE Nifty inched up 2.70 points or 0.03 per cent to close at 8 927 points and the BSE Sensex was up 27.19 points or 0.09 per cent at 28 929.13 points.
Major Asian markets have ended on a mixed note while European indices like FTSE 100 CAC 40 and DAX traded higher Deepak Jasani Head - Retail Research HDFC Securities told IANS.
Anand James Chief Market Strategist Geojit Financial Services said: Exit poll results rubbed on market sentiments giving another push early in the day but caution was abundant ahead of the long weekend especially with several event risks lying ahead.
Meanwhile while ECB s (European Central Bank) dovish verdict yesterday has mellowed expectations for next week s US rate hike US non-farm payroll figures could be a better indicator of FOMC s policy action James said.
On the currency front Dhruv Desai Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls told IANS: Indian equity market witnessed good recovery from lower levels tracking bearish USD/INR futures prices.
The Indian rupee appreciated by 11 paise to 66.61 against a US dollar from its previous close of 66.72 to a greenback.
In terms of investments provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased stocks worth Rs 412.14 crore while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) divested scrip worth Rs 13.91 crore.
Commenting on the sector-specific movement Desai said: IT banking media-entertainment and FMCG sector stocks traded with mixed sentiments while textile cement and aviation sector stocks traded with firm sentiments due to lower levels of buying.
On the contrary pharma auto oil-gas and power sector stocks traded down due to selling pressure.
Sector-wise the S&P BSE capital goods index surged by 72.90 points followed by the automobile index which rose by 58.59 points and the IT index which edged up by 39.47 points.
On the other hand the S&P BSE metal index fell by 75.24 points the oil and gas index edged down by 52.80 points and the healthcare index slipped by 47.17 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Friday were: Bharti Airtel up 1.22 per cent at Rs 364.80; Hero MotoCorp up 1.16 per cent at Rs 3 311.60; Larsen and Toubro (L&T) up 1.02 per cent at Rs 1 491.95; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) up 0.88 per cent at Rs 2 541.80; and ONGC 0.87 per cent at Rs 191.40.
Major Sensex losers were: ICICI Bank down 0.99 per cent at Rs 270.55; Power Grid down 0.88 per cent at Rs 192.55; Bajaj Auto down 0.79 per cent at Rs 2 850; NTPC down 0.76 per cent at Rs 157.05; and ITC down 0.59 per cent at Rs 263.25.
--IANS
ppg-rv/vt
Equities inch up on strong rupee, foreign funds inflows (Roundup)
