Diwali rally: Sensex up 2k points in 4 days on foreign fund buying

Mumbai: Sensex rallied to a 52-week high on Friday at above the 84,100-point mark in early trades but end-of-the-session profit taking pulled the index down a bit and it closed 485 points up at just below the 84k mark. Since Tuesday, the sensex has risen nearly 2,000 points or 2.3%.

On NSE, Nifty gained 178 points to close at 25,324 points, a 52-week high level. Along with Nifty, the banking index rallied to a record all-time high, exchange data showed. According to Ajit Mishra of , the rally in the market was supported by multiple factors — notably, positive foreign fund inflows and a stronger rupee.

“Foreign investors continued to be net buyers, encouraged by a benign global interest-rate environment and resilient corporate earnings from leading private banks and consumer-focused majors,” Mishra said.

This week, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net bought stocks worth Rs 1,548 crore, data combined from BSE and NSDL showed. Net FPI inflows stand at Rs 6,480 crore this month, compared to net outflows aggregating Rs 76,619 crore in Sept.

Outside of the leading indices and some others, mid- and small-cap stocks witnessed profit taking, with BSE mid-cap index closing 0.4% down and small-cap index 0.5%. As a result, investors were left poorer by a marginal Rs 3,000 crore, with BSE’s market capitalisation now at Rs 466.9 lakh crore, official data showed.

Among the sensex constituents, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel contributed the most to the index rally, BSE data showed. In contrast, selling in Infosys, Eternal and a few other stocks limited the index’s gains for the day. Of the 30 sensex constituents, 17 closed with gains while 13 closed lower.