Sensex zooms 222 points to 2-week high, Nifty near 10,000-level

This is the highest closing since September 22 when it settled at 31,922.44.

Mumbai: Domestic bourses saw their their first weekly rise in three weeks as the Sensex on Friday soared over 222 points to end at an over two-week high of 31,814.22 and the Nifty closed near 10,000-level on across- the-spectrum buying led by metal stocks ahead of the GST Council meet outcome.

Expectations built up among investors on ground that today's GST Council meeting may provide some relief to exporters and small and medium enterprises in terms of faster refunds and compliance.

Positive global cues tracking another record close on Wall Street on account of buoyant US data and hopes for tax reform too helped the domestic rally.

"Market rebounded led by surge in metal stocks on account of rise in global commodity prices. Additionally, expectations from GST council meet to get reduction in GST rates & faster refund gave thrust to small and midcap stocks to outperform. Global market remains positive due to better outlook on US employment data & tax reforms," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd said.

Registering their first weekly gains in three weeks, the Sensex rose by 530.50 points, or 1.69 percent; while the broader NSE Nifty advanced by 191.10 points, or 1.95 percent, during the week.

The 30-share Sensex, which had lost 79.68 points in the previous session, rebounded by 222.19 points, or 0.70 percent, to close at 31,814.22 after oscillating between 31,844.28 and 31,632.81. This is the highest closing since September 22 when the Sensex settled at 31,922.44.

Reflecting a wide-spread recovery, the 50-share NSE Nifty too spurted by 91 points, or 0.92 percent, to close at 9,979.70. Intra-day, it touched a high of 9,989.35 and a low of 9,906.60.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 519.03 crore, while foreign fund outflows stood at Rs 656.50 crore yesterday, according to provisional data from exchanges.

Among the Sensex components, Tata Steel stole the show by surging 4.73 percent to Rs 691.40 after the company said its saleable steel production in the country rose by 18 percent to 5.98 million tonnes in April-September this year, while Sun Pharma climbed 3.19 percent to Rs 530.40.

NTPC, SBI, Hind Unilever, Infosys, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Lupin, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, L&T, Adani Ports, Wipro, Axis Bank, TCS, Kotak Bank, Asian Paint, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and ITC too traded in the green and posted notable gains.

However, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Ltd, Dr Reddy's and Power Grid remained under pressure, down up to 1.42 percent.

Sector-wise, metal advanced the most 3.14 percent, followed by oil and gas 2.09 percent, PSU 1.81 percent, power 1.24 percent, IT 1.23 percent, consumer durables 1.16 percent, teck 1.01 percent and healthcare 0.91 percent.

The broader markets too showed a bullish trend, with BSE small-cap and mid-cap indices surging up to 1.09 percent.

Most other Asian indices closed higher. Financial markets in China remained shut today for a public holiday. Europe posted a mixed picture with Frankfurt's DAX rising 0.07 percent, while Paris CAC 40 fell 0.17 percent in their late morning deals. London's FTSE was up 0.14 percent.