Mumbai, May 31 (Agency) Snapping a losing streak of the last five sessions, the BSE Sensex on Friday ended positive with mild gains of 75.71 points to close at 73961.31 on the strength of banking, utilities, real estate, and power stocks amid a mixed trend in the Asian market. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty also moved up 42.05 points to 22,530.70. The Nifty registered days high and low at 22,653.75 and 22,465.10 points, respectively. All eyes are now on the last phase of elections on Saturday followed by exit polls and finally, the counting that will commence on June 4, and the outcome of the 7-phase election process is expected by late afternoon same day.
According to data available, the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities Thursday worth Rs 3050 crore while the Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) indulged in buying to the tune of Rs 3,433 crore. Though volatility was seen during the day ahead of election results, the market ended on a positive note led by gains in key heavyweights including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, L&T, and Reliance Industries. With yesterday’s loss of over 600 points, the BSE Sensex opened on a strong note at 74208.53, up 323 points. It rallied 593 points at 74478.79, the day’s high, before closing at 73961.31, up 75.71 points.
The stocks that lifted the market were utilities by 2.10 percent, real estate by 2.02 percent, and power by 1.80 percent. In 30-share Sensex, 17 advanced while 13 declined. The midcap rose by 0.06 percent and the small-cap by 0.13 percent. Other gainers were Tata Steel by 2.01 percent to Rs 167.50, Bajaj Finance by 1.84 percent to Rs 6737.20, IndusInd Bank by 1.05 percent to Rs 1461.65, M&M by 1 percent to Rs 2519.65, and Power grid by 0.96 percent to Rs 309.45. The losers were Nestle India Ltd by 2.06 percent to Rs 2355.95, Maruti Suzuki by 1.51 percent to Rs 12401.40, Infosys by 1.27 percent to Rs 1407.60, and TCS by 1.12 percent to Rs 3694.