The NSE Nifty closed at 24,894.25, up 0.2% or 57.95 points, while the BSE Sensex ended 0.3% higher at 81,207.17, a gain of 223.86 points.
“Although the market advanced in the last two sessions, it is expected to be a pullback move rather than a reversal,” said Bhavik Joshi, Business Head at INVasset PMS. “Stock-specific rallies are becoming common in the current set up as investors chase momentum while the indices remain flat.” Both indices gained nearly 1% in this truncated trading week after declining 2.7% last week. Financial markets were shut for trading on Thursday for Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea gained 2.7% on Friday, while Japan and Taiwan rose 1.9% and 1.5% respectively. China and Indonesia advanced around 0.5% each. Hong Kong moved 0.5% lower.
At home, the Nifty Midcap 150 and Smallcap 250 index moved 0.9% higher on Friday. Out of the 4,339 shares traded on the BSE, 2,636 advanced and 1,568 declined. Over the past week, the midcap and smallcap indices gained around 2% each.
The Nifty Metal index rose 1.8% while the PSU Bank and consumer durables indices moved over 1% higher on Friday.Joshi said that metals and PSU Bank indices are close to record highs of October last year and both have been underperformers in the last few months. “Since metals are priced in dollar terms, the fall in the dollar as it loses value is supportive for metal companies,” said Joshi. “The government announcement of the merger of banks in the PSU space is a tailwind for that sector.”
“Any dips towards the support zone of 24,400-24,600 can be used as a buying opportunity and the index might face a hurdle at 25,000 levels in the near term,” said Ruchit Jain, Head Technical Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
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