The combined market capitalisation of select Sensex stocks such as TCS, Reliance Industries (RIL), Infosys, ONGC and ITC rose by Rs 37,337 crore ($5.5billion) as a string of positive factors lifted benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty during the week ended March 18. The next week will be a 3-day trading week as markets will remained closed for two days for Holi and Good Friday.
Besides stock-specific news, the markets were also buoyed by retail inflation data, US Fed's dovish stance and renewed hopes of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
India's largest software services firm TCS added Rs 12,068 crore to its market capitalisation, while RIL and Infosys added Rs 3,094 crore and Rs 10,956 crore, respectively. Shareholders of ITC and ONGC also saw their wealth rise by Rs 3,135 crore and Rs 8,084 crore, respectively.
The top Sensex market cap losers during the week included Coal India, HDFC Bank and Sun Pharma.
TCS spurted in Friday's trade after the company said that its digital push is paying off and is poised to grow further. ONGC rose almost 5 percent after the company's overseas arm signed a deal with Russian firm Rosneft to acquire an additional 11 percent stake in Vankorneft for approximately $930 million.
Sustained equity purchases by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) during the week contributed to the rally. Their net equity purchases stood at Rs 4,579 crore.
The rupee closed with a gain of 24 paise at 66.51 to the US dollar, the third consecutive day of gains.
The Sensex settled at 24,952, a gain of 275 points, or 1.12 percent, Friday, and the 50-scrip NSE Nifty closed above the psychological mark of 7,600 at 7,604, a gain of 91.80 points, or 1.22 percent.
India's foreign exchanges reserves climbed $2.54 billion to $353.40 billion in the week ended March 11. The rise was mainly due to an increase in foreign exchange assets, according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) weekly data released Friday.
The stock markets will have a curtailed trading week as they will be remained closed on March 24 and 25 on account of Holi and Good Friday, respectively.
