Sensex, Nifty Highest Weekly Gain Since April; SBI’s Best Week In 30 Years

Indian equities managed to eke out modest gains, ending higher for the fifth straight session after hitting record highs in early trade.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 0.2% higher at 50,731 after crossing the 51,000 mark earlier in the day. The NSE Nifty 50 too briefly traded above the 15,000 mark, making an intraday high of 15,014. The index ended 0.2% higher at 14,924.

For the week, both the benchmark indices were up 9.5% - their best weekly advance since April last year.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank cooled off nearly 1,000 points from the day's high to end 0.9% higher at 35,654. The index made an intraday record of 36,615.

The PSU Bank index too ended with gains of 3.6%, courtesy the surge seen in State Bank of India, which saw its best week since March 1992.

The laggards in today's session were Media stocks, owing to the fall seen in Zee Entertainment post its third quarter results and subsequent management commentary. The index ended 4.5% lower. The Auto index fell 1.3% while the I.T. index also declined 0.9% in today's session.

Broader markets were mixed on the final trading day of the week. The Nifty Midcap index fell 1.1% while the smallcap index managed to eke out gains to end 0.3% higher.

The India Volatility Index rose 1.3% to end at 23.4.

1,127 stocks on the NSE ended lower while 747 managed to end with gains.