Domestic equity benchmarks registered mild gains on Friday, closing higher for a second straight session as Dalal Street resumed trading after a day’s holiday. The Sensex rose 223.9 points, or 0.3 per cent, to end at 81,207.2 and the Nifty50 added 58 points, or 0.2 per cent, to its previous close to settle at 24,894.3. The 30-scrip gauge took its cumulative gains to 939.6 points in two back-to-back sessions. Investors continued to cheer a slew of steps announced by the RBI this week to boost the country’s financial sector as it raised an annual GDP growth reading by 30 basis points, said some analysts.
The central bank raised its FY26 economic growth forecast to 6.8 per cent from 6.5 per cent while adjusting its inflation projection to 2.6 per cent instead of the earlier 3.1 per cent.Â
The Nifty Bank — whose 12 constituents include SBI and HDFC Bank shares — rose 241.3 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 55,589.3. Financial stocks enjoy the maximum weightage of almost 37 per cent in the Nifty50.
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Top Nifty 50 gainers and losersÂ
Tata Steel, PowerGrid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Hindalco — closing between 2.0 per cent and 3.5 per cent higher — rose the most among the 26 gainers in the Nifty50 basket. On the other hand, Max Healthcare Institute, Tech Mahindra, Eicher Motors, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki India, SBI Life and Bajaj Finserv — closing between 0.6 per cent and 3.9 per cent lower — were the top losers in the 50-blue-chip pack.
Top Sensex movers
Bharti Airtel, L&T and Tata Steel were among the top contributors to the gains in both benchmarks.
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Midcap and smallcap stocks
Among broader indices, the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 0.8 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively, reflecting investor interest in the minnows.
The BSE 500 — the bourse’s broadest barometer — rose 0.4 per cent for the day.
Banking measures
The RBI has introduced as many as 22 measures for the financial space — most aimed at aiding credit flow in the banking system — while doing away with a 2016 framework that limited bank lending to large corporations in a bid to reduce the risk of concentrated lending. It also brought lower risk weights on select segments to reduce the overall capital requirements, particularly for MSMEs and residential realty.
