By Rituraj Baruah
Mumbai, Aug 18 (IANS) Easing inflation data along with braodly positive global cues lifted the key Indian equity indices during the week with the NSE Nifty50 ending at a record closing level on Friday.
India's annual rate of inflation based on wholesale prices eased to 5.09 per cent in July from a high of 5.77 per cent in June, official data showed on Tuesday. The retail inflation for July released on Monday stood at 4.17 per cent, down from 4.92 per cent in June.
However, a slump in the Indian rupee tracking weakness in its global peers and a wider trade deficit limited the gains on the equity indices.
On a weekly basis, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 37,947.88 points, higher by 78.65 points or 0.21 per cent from its previous close.
Similarly, the wider Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange made gains. On Friday, it ended at a record closing high of 11,470.75 points, higher by 41.25 points or 0.36 per cent from the previous week's close.
Market breadth was negative in three out of the four trading sessions of the week, analyst said.
Markets extended winning streak for the third consecutive week as the Index of Industrial Production and Consumer Price Index data gave boost to the market, said Rahul Sharma, Senior Research Analyst at Equity99.
According to Hem Securities' Director, Prateek Jain, "Traders and investors saw modest losses due to Turkish concerns in the beginning of the week. But, towards the fag end of the week, markets reflected recovery."
On the currency front, the rupee settled at its lowest closing level of 70.16 on Thursday, weakened by 1.33 paise from its previous week's close of 68.83 per greenback.
The rupee on Thursday also touched an all time low of 70.39-40 per dollar. Globally, currencies depreciated against the greenback for most part of the week following a plunge in the Turkish "Lira". Forex trade in India was shut on Friday on account of Parsi New Year.
In terms of investments, provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrip worth Rs 2,028.47 crore, while the domestic institutional investors both stocks worth Rs 893.43 crore in the past week.
Figures from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) showed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) invested Rs 159.66 crore, or $24.67 million, in the equities segment during August 13-16.
Sector-wise, pharma, IT, FMCG and realty gained, while media, PSU, infrastructure, financial services and metals fell, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.
The top weekly Sensex gainers were Sun Pharma (up 9.22 per cent at Rs 623.30); ITC (up 3.94 per cent at Rs 313.75); Infosys (up 3.70 per cent at Rs 1,431.35); Yes Bank (up 3.07 per cent at Rs 392.95); and Mahindra and Mahindra (up 2.97 per cent at Rs 961 per share).
The major losers were Vedanta (down 6.72 per cent at Rs 215); Tata Motors (DVR) (down 5.06 per cent at Rs 136); HDFC (down 4.75 per cent at Rs 1,883.60); SBI (down 4.57 per cent at Rs 302.00); and Larsen and Toubro (down 3.58 per cent at Rs 1,240.30 per share).
(Rituraj Baruah can be contacted at rituraj.b@ians.in)
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