By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU (Reuters) -India’s stock benchmarks advanced on Friday, paring weekly losses while ending their longest weekly winning streak in six years on profit booking at record high levels earlier in the week.
Both the NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex lost about 0.5% each this week, dragged by the fall in recent outperformers like financials and auto stocks.
The blue-chip indexes had gained 12.65% and 12.07% over the last seven weeks, aided by strong domestic macroeconomic data, a return of foreign inflows due to improving U.S. rate outlook and moderation in oil prices.
“The rally in Indian markets will continue as the outlook remains positive, but the pace may moderate a bit,” said Ajit Banerjee, chief investment officer at Shriram Life Insurance.
On the day, the blue-chip NSE Nifty climbed 0.44% to 21,349.40, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.34% to 71,106.96.
Information technology companies, reliant on U.S. revenue, gained 2.27% as gross domestic product (GDP) for the September quarter was revised down.
The data indicated a cooling of the U.S. economy, heightening bets of a rate cut in the first half of 2024.
Metals advanced 1.71% after a dip in the U.S. dollar following the GDP data.
A decline in the U.S. dollar is a beneficial for metals as it makes them less expensive for buyers using other currencies. [MET/L]
The domestically-focussed small- and mid-caps gained 1.08% and 0.73%, on the day, trimming weekly losses.
“It will be difficult for the 2023 rally in small- and mid-caps to spill over to 2024, as they are expensive compared to large-caps,” said Mihir Vora, chief investment officer at Trust Mutual Fund.
Life Insurance Corporation of India climbed 3.70% following a government exemption to achieve 25% minimum public shareholding within 10 years from the listing date.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
