Thomas BabychanAmidst high volatility in the stock market around the world, and a huge decline in stock values on Friday, Sensex and Nifty 50 continued posting gains in value for the fifth week in a row.
In the last week, the Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange gained 0.31% compared to the closing rate of 59,462.78 on August 12 on August 12th. On August 19th, the last trading day of the week, Sensex closed the markets at 59,646.15. Similarly, the benchmark index of the national stock exchange, Nifty 50, gained 0.34% in last week to close trading on Friday at 17,758.45.
Indian stock market commenced the week with the shocking news of the death of renowned investor and stock trader Rakesh Jhunjhunwala in the early hours of August 14th at a private hospital in Mumbai.
On the following day, Indian stock markets were closed due to a public holiday for Independence Day of India.
On Tuesday, markets reopened with positive sentiments as inflation data showed positive signs for the future. Easing inflation in the Indian economy and expectation of lower rate hikes by RBI pushed markets upward. Sensex closed at 59,842.21 on Tuesday gaining 379.43 points. Nifty 50 of the national stock exchange gained 127.10 points to settle above the 17800 mark.
Sensex and nifty 50 continued their bull run on Wednesday as both indexes weak global cues with help of strong Foreign portfolio investments. Sensex gained 417.92 points to settle above 60,260.13. It was for the first time in nearly 4 months that the senses crosses the 60k mark. Nifty 50 also saw an increase in its index value by 0.67 per cent to close trading at 17,944.25, near the 18k mark.
With the help of a marginally low gain of 37.87 points, Sensex maintained its position above the 60k mark on Thursday. Bharti Airtel Ltd did an impressive job on Thursday as the shares gained 11.5 rupees per share with the help of news about the allocation of the 5G spectrum to the telecom company.
Nifty 50 also made considerable gains on Thursday with Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen and Toubro and Tata Consumers Products Limited being top gainers.
Cutting of forecasts by Goldman Sachs and Nomura for Chinese GDP growth, and some statement by members of the US Fed Reserve regarding continuing interest rate hikes pushed Indian markets down to the barrel on Friday. Along with Indian markets, European and Asian markets also performed negatively during the last trading day of the week.
Sensex declined by 651.85 points (-1.08%) on Friday to close markets at 59,646.15 points. Nifty 50 also saw its index value tumble by 198.05 points (-1.10 %) to close the market at the last trade price of 17,758.45. Only 3 stocks out of 30 listed on Sensex were able to make it to green.