The NSE Nifty too ended 58.60 points, or 0.54 per cent, higher at 10,967.30 after shuttling between 10,985.15 and 10,928 during the session.
In the Sensex pack, Vedanta rallied 3.20 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, M&M, Tata Motors, ONGC, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, Bajaj Finance, SBI, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, Coal India, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Reliance and Bharti Airtel, rising up to 2.69 per cent.
The most consistent wealth creators since 2008 are all consumer-facing companies, says Devangshu Datta.
the broader NSE Nifty settled 114.90 points, or 0.96 per cent, higher at 12,086.70. Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 4.21 per cent, followed by Vedanta 3.75 per cent, SBI 3.39 per cent, Maruti 3.20 per cent, IndusInd Bank 3.07 per cent and Yes Bank 2.87 per cent. Bharti Airtel slipped 1.98 per cent, Kotak Bank 1.38 per cent, Bajaj Auto 0.88 per cent, Asian Paints 0.31 per cent, HDFC Bank 0.05 per cent and HUL 0.03 per cent.
Among the Sensex constituents, Larsen and Toubro emerged as the top performer with a gain of 2.76 per cent after the company announced winning large contracts from domestic clients.
The liquidity-fuelled rally will continue for some time, however, fundamentals are getting stretched.
Investors turned cautious weighing weak GDP numbers and continued drop in automobile sales, bringing banking and auto sector stocks under pressure.
Investor sentiment got a big push after Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped below the USD 73-mark to quote at a seven-month low of USD 72.65 by falling 3.48 per cent, traders said.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
'The growth drivers are mostly invisible, but the growth is undeniable at least for now,' notes Debashis Basu.
Top gainers in the Sensex pack include Yes Bank, TCS, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Vedanta, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, Bajaj Finance, M&M and Tata Steel, surging up to 3.24 per cent.
The broader NSE Nifty also settled lower by 23.10 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 11,922.80.
Top losers include Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, SBI, Infosys, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Bajaj Auto and IndusInd Bank, falling up to 2.63 per cent.
'It was love at first sight.'
Other than ITC, other laggards include PowerGrid, Infosys, M&M, NTPC, SBI, HDFC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, TCS, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, ONGC, RIL, Asian Paint, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank.
'Kindly advise about the following stocks. Can I hold or exit?'
Yes Bank was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 11.48 per cent amid reports that private equity firms have showed interest in buying a major stake in the private sector lender.
Top losers in the Sensex pack on Friday included Bajaj Finance, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, L&T, Axis Bank, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, falling up to 2.08 per cent.
The combined market capitalisation of the top 873 family-owned companies was down 26.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 61.8 trillion at the end of trading on Tuesday. It had grown 6 per cent in FY19 and nearly 20 per cent in FY18.
Asian Paints Managing Director & CEO P M Murty is the Business Standard CEO of the Year for 2009-10.
A crucial meet of the Reserve Bank's central board is underway amid a rift between the central bank and the government over future course of policies. Expectations of a positive outcome boosted market mood after the meeting began.
Employees of some top Indian companies were in for a pleasant surprise when they received a mail from their HR team announcing a hike in salaries and bonuses. Led by IT firms and start-ups, HR managers say that while some have offered cash and stock options, others are in a wait-and-watch mode and add the trend will pick up in other sectors. For example, IT giant Cognizant - which had an attrition rate of 19 per cent in the December quarter - has established a $30-million employee retention fund in order to bring down the high attrition rate.
'Long-term retail investors should not worry about these sharp dips and jumps if they have chosen their stocks wisely.' 'Short-term volatility is a given and a rise and fall of two-three per cent should not worry them.'
Market breadth turned negative with 1,779 declines over 884 advances on the BSE
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.