India's benchmark stock indices rose on Friday, with the NSE Nifty 50 surging near 1 per cent, its biggest gain in more than seven weeks, ahead of the outcome of the GST (Goods and Services Tax) council meeting and tracking gain in all major Asian markets.
The BSE Sensex rose 222 points or 0.7 per cent to close at 31,814.22 and the Nifty gained 91 points or 0.9 per cent at 9,979.70 points.
For the week, Sensex rose 1.7 per cent, while the Nifty was up 2 per cent, its strongest weekly gain since July.
“Despite, RBI’s status quo on interest rate and reduction in growth forecast of 6.7 per cent from 7.3 per cent, with concern over inflation, has not created any volatility in the market, since the commentary was less hawkish and inventors were looking forward for some relief from the GST council meet,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.
Tata Steel was the biggest gainer on the Sensex on Friday, the stock gained 4.7 per cent after it reported higher production numbers. Other major gainers included Sun Pharma, which rose 3.2 per cent and NTPC was up 2.7 per cent.
Elsewhere, Reliance Industries (RIL) gained 1.5 percent; Reliance Marcellus II, LLC, a unit of Reliance Holding USA Inc and RIL, has signed agreements to sell certain shale gas assets in Pennsylvania, USA for $126 million.
Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Power Grid and HDFC Bank were the only losers among the 30-share Sensex on Friday.
Future Retail rose 2 per cent and Shoppers Stop also gained over 1 per cent, after the later sold the food and grocery retail chain HyperCity to Kishore Biyani's Future Group.
Looking ahead, all eyes will be on the quarterly earnings announcement by companies. Among some of the major results next week, lender IndusInd Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, the country's largest software services exporter, will announce earnings on October 12, while supermarket operator DMart will report earnings on October 14.
Net income of the Nifty companies is expected to rise 8 per cent year-on-year, according to Kotak Institutional Equities. Re-stocking post the implementation of GST and an early start to festive season should drive strong growth for consumer companies and energy companies should benefit from higher refining margins, said Sanjeev Prasad, co-head of Kotak Institutional Equities.
Metals and mining companies should also benefit from higher realisation and consequent improvement in profitability, added Prasad.
On the other hand, higher input costs will weigh on margins of auto makers and pressures in US revenues will impact pharmaceutical companies. Telecom companies will also continue to reel under ongoing intense competitive intensity, he noted.
Meanwhile, the rupee weakened 22 paise to 65.36 against the US Dollar. Strengthening Dollar is also weighing on Gold, which was set for a fall for a fourth week in international markets. In the domestic market, gold prices rose by around Rs 75 to Rs 30,450 per ten grams as fresh buying by local jewellers was seen.
