Stock markets ended trading on Friday with modest gains, two days ahead of muhurat trading slated to be held on Sunday - October 30 between 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm. The benchmark indices — BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty — have ended Samvat 2072 with gains of eight percent and 10.3 percent, respectively, based on closing levels of Friday (October 28, 2016 and November 11, 2015).
The 30-scrip ended at 28,041 on Friday, up 2,075 points from 25,866 on November 11, 2015, while the broader, 50-scrip NSE Nifty closed at 8,638, a gain of 813 points from 7,825 clocked on muhurat trading day last year.
Top Sensex gainers on Friday included Bajaj Auto (3.35 percent), Tata Motors (2.68 percent), Coal India (2.33 percent) and Tata Steel (1.85 percent). Stocks that lifted the NSE Nifty included Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and Zee Entertainment.
"The auspicious festival season followed by value buying in Tata group stocks, persuaded the market to make a small comeback after a slew of corrections. The global sentiment is weak and the FIIs are net sellers in the market ahead the FOMC, BoE and BoJ meet next week," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said in a note on Friday.
Investors are also waiting for US Q3 GDP data today to get more sense on the market's future direction," he added.
The most significant development since Samvat 2072 is the turmoil in the Tata Group triggered by the removal of Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry on Monday, setting off a wave of allegations and counter-allegations by Mistry and Ratan Tata, who has been brought back as an interim chief of Tata Sons for four months.
The year also saw the exit of Raghuram Rajan as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor and elevation of Urjit Patel to his post, besides the new arrangement to finalise repo rate. For the first time, a six-member Monetary Policy Committee decided on the key policy rate.
If the subdued mood in the bullion market is any indication, trading is likely to remain rather modest during this year's muhurat trading, unlike last year when the Sensex gained 123 points.
Gold prices dropped Rs 110 per 10 gm on Friday to close at Rs 30,590, while silver prices remained unchanged at Rs 42,700 per kg, even as the country was celebrating Dhanteras, a festival that is marked by auspicious buying of gold and silver, mainly in the northern parts of India.
Select stocks gained sharply since Samvat 2072, such as SpiceJet that rose from Rs 49.9 on November 11, 2015, to close at Rs 72.35 on Friday.
Stocks that hit a new 52-week high on Friday included TTK Prestige, Arvind, HPCL, Shriram City Union, NMDC, Adani Transmission, Birla Corporation, HPCL, DCB Bank and TVS Motor Co.
