Stock Market: Bulls spurt on Fed cues; heavyweights force short covering

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By S Jha

New Delhi, June 16: Taking cues from the US equity markets, the Indian indices on Friday went soaring with the index heavyweights leading the show. In the second half of the trading session, the traders went on a short covering drive as indices flew while tracking the global cues.

Nifty closed with gains of over 137 points to close decisively above the psychological level of 18800. Before the 3PM show brought in the counter trade, Nifty had risen by over 160 points on the back of hectic short covering by the traders as they covered their positions.

Bank Nifty was in the firm grip of the bulls as the index had risen by over 600 points before the 3 PM trigger brought in the sharp profit booking to erase over 100 points from the gains of the index. While Bank Nifty had scaled the crucial 44,000 level during the session, the index closed at 43938 level.

The day belonged to the HDFC family as all the members – HDFC bank, HDFC and HDFC Insurance – led the rally on Friday. HDFC Insurance gained over five per cent to make an impressive day after several days of lukewarm sessions. Taking cues from HDFC Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, which the brokerages claim to have the best growth in the sector, too sharply climbed and closed with gains of over three per cent.

The rejig by the global index service provider FTSE which would mean a net inflow into the likes of Reliance Industries also brought cheers for the bulls. Reliance Industries, an index heavyweight, gained over one per cent to give a solid start to Sensex and Nifty. With the HDFC twins and Reliance Industries trending up, the indices too went trending to bring in the element of short covering during the session.

The bull-run on the Indian indices was in line with the best week in the US bourses as S&P, Dow Jones and Nasdaq all logged in smart gains in the five days of the sessions.

Defence sector was buzzing in the Friday session in an apparent anticipation of India joining the global defence supply chains during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington. Mazgaon Dockyard gained almost 13 per cent to close at the record level. Data Patterns also gained over four per cent to close at a record level. Cochin Shipyad also gained smartly, netting over three per cent on Friday.