By Ravi Dutta Mishra
Mumbai, Nov 3 (IANS) The Indian equity market broke its two-week losing streak with sharp gains as the Sensex reclaimed the 35,000-mark and Nifty50 shot over 5 per cent on a weekly basis during the October 29-November 2 period.
According to analysts, firm global cues including decline in crude oil prices aided the upward movement of Indian indices. Strong quarterly earnings reported during the week was among the other major supportive factors driving the market, they said.
For the week under review, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 1,662.34 points, or 4.74 per cent, to close at 35,011.65.
The 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange advanced 523 points, or 5.21 per cent, to settle at 10,553.
The investor sentiments improved with the downward movement in crude.
"The benchmark Brent crude fell 6 per cent this week and 16 per cent since the beginning of October to $72.91 a barrel as fear of oil shortage faded," said Rahul Sharma, Senior Research Analyst with Equity99.
Analysts were of the view that value buying by investors after the fortnightly loss also supported the Indian equity market in the week gone by.
Further, on Friday, global markets jumped significantly reflecting investors' hopes about upcoming trade talks between China and the US.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said his conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping laid "heavy emphasis on trade" and also described it as "long and very good".
Provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 5,706.24 crore during the week, whereas domestic institutional investors bought Rs 6,377.02 crore worth of stocks.
Figures from the NSDL showed that foreign portfolio investors divested Rs 4,232.05 crore in the equities segment during the week ending November 2.
The relief rally during the week was aided by strong quarterly performance by heavyweights, along with a healthy recovery in the banking counters.
On Sensex, among the major weekly gainers top three were from the banking sector -- Yes Bank, up 15.98 per cent at Rs 209.40; State Bank of India, up 15.05 per cent at Rs 285.45; and Axis Bank, up 13.51 per cent at Rs 609.95 per share.
The other major gainers included were Larsen & Toubro which logged a weekly gain of 13.29 per cent, as the engineering and construction conglomerate on Wednesday posted a 23 per cent jump in net profit for the second quarter ending September.
The week saw only four laggards -- Coal India, down 6.93 per cent at Rs 261.35;, Kotak Mahindra Bank, down 2.22 per cent at 1,133.30;, NTPC, down 0.88 per cent at Rs 157.90; and HDFC Bank, down 0.78 per cent at Rs 1,946.90 per share.
(Ravi Dutta Mishra can be reached at ravidutta.m@ians.in)
