Domestic shares were trading flat as investors booked profits in recent outperformers, but were poised for a third straight gain on month fuelled by a crucial victory for BJP in a key state election and big foreign inflows into markets.
At 2.25 pm, the NSE index was up 6.4 points or 0.07 per cent at 9,180.15, while the BSE index was up 8.73 points or 0.03 per cent at 29,656.15.
Among BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas index was the star-performer and was up 2.25 per cent, followed by metal 1.4 per cent, capital goods 1.32 per cent and PSU 1.23 per cent. On the other hand, FMCG index was down 0.48 per cent, banking 0.44 per cent, TECk 0.29 per cent and IT 0.26 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Reliance (+4.44%), L&T (+1.95%), NTPC (+1.71), Coal India (+1.52%) and Power Grid (+1.33%), while the major losers were HDFC Bank (-1.63%), HDFC (-1.21%), Cipla (-1.18%), ITC (-1.17%) and HUL (-1.09%).
NSE hits record high
The NSE index has however advanced 3.1 per cent this month after hitting a record high of 9,218.40 on March 17, spurred by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's win in Uttar Pradesh and net foreign inflows of $4.67 billion into equity markets as of March 30.
For the quarter, the NSE index rose 11.9 per cent, its best performance since the April-June quarter of 2014 when Modi was elected to power.
In the 2016/17 fiscal year so far, the NSE has surged 18.5 per cent, rebounding from an 8.9 per cent fall in the previous financial year.
Corporate earnings
Analysts say they expect markets to take a breather in the short-term as investors brace for corporate results starting mid-April.
“There could me some more profit-booking happening in the market. Next week could see some breather in terms of FII (foreign institutional investor) inflows as well as caution ahead of earnings season and monsoon data,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head of research at Centrum Wealth.
On Friday, private lender HDFC Bank was trading 1.7 per cent lower, sliding for the first time in four sessions and the top percentage loser among financial stocks on the index.
The Nifty Bank index, which ended Thursday at a record closing high, and the Nifty Finance index each fell as much as 0.7 per cent.
Bharti Infratel, which has gained 4.6 per cent so far in the week after it sold about 22 percent stake, was down 3.5 per cent, the top percentage loser on the index.
Education services provider CL Educate slumped on market debut, falling as much as 21 per cent from its IPO price of 502 rupees.
Indian Oil Corp Ltd, which was included in the NSE index on Friday along with Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, was the top percentage gainer, rising as much as 3.70 per cent.
Asian shares were mixed and the dollar extended its overnight gains on Friday on signs of strong US economic growth, while the euro inched up after sliding overnight on data suggesting slowing growth in Europe.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan retreated 0.15 per cent, as investors balanced positions on the last day of the month and quarter. The benchmark is up almost 13 per cent for the quarter.