Stock markets were on a roll on Friday after a lacklustre trading the previous day in the wake of weak Q4 GDP data. Benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty hit fresh lifetime highs on Friday on the back of bullish projections by brokerages and fairly positive automobile sales for May.
The 30-scrip Sensex ended 136 points higher at 31,273, while the NSE Nifty gained 37 points to end at 9,653, marking new closing highs for both the indices. Top gainers were Hero Motocorp, Wipro, Cipla, Adani Ports and Bharti Airtel.
Pharma stocks were star performers with the BSE Healthcare index closing 1.12 percent higher, outperforming Sensex's gain of 0.44 percent.
GMR Infrastructure was one of the top gainers on the BSE, ending 13.71 percent higher at Rs 17 after the company declared upbeat Q4 results. The stock hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 19 intraday before closing lower.
Other stocks that hit new 52-week highs included Adani Transmission, Cadila Healthcare, Escorts, Hero Motocorp, IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Voltas and LIC Housing Finance.
Volume sales reported by automobile sales for May indicate that two-wheeler companies had an upbeat performance, according to brokerage Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities.
"Automobile sales in May 2017 were stronger than expected for two-wheeler players because of strong rural as well as marriage season demand. Most two-wheeler original equipment manufacturers or OEMs reported stronger-than-expected growth, either in high single-digits YoY or in double-digits YoY, barring Bajaj Auto which reported 10% YoY decline in two-wheeler sales.
In the car segment, the growth momentum continued for most players with Maruti Suzuki India or MSIL reporting 11% YoY growth while Hyundai India and Mahindra & Mahindra or M&M posted single-digit YoY growth in sales.
Commercial vehicle or CV sales continued to remain weak, although they improved sharply on MoM basis. Tata Motors reported double-digit 12% YoY decline in CV sales while Ashok Leyland posted 8% YoY decline and VE Commercial Vehicles or VECV registered 21% YoY fall in sales," Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities said in a note on Friday.
On Thursday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net sellers of Indian equities worth Rs 517 crore, according to provisional data released by the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
In related news, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will be meeting for two days starting on Saturday to finalise tax rates for gold, footwear, textiles and biscuits.
