With the help of advances in energy companies, Indian shares climbed slightly to their highest level in more than a month on Friday. This helped extend a five-session winning run while ignoring the weakness in global markets.
By 10:43 a.m. IST, the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) was up 0.1% to 66,339, while the Nifty 50 (.NSEI) index was up 0.1% at 19,739.
The benchmarks are expected to post increases for a second week and may have their best week since June 30.
After technology companies in the United States fell overnight due to escalating Sino-U.S. tensions, Asian stock markets declined on Friday.
Following last week’s GDP numbers, there is a renewed interest in Indian stocks. According to Samrat Dasgupta, CEO of Esquire Capital Investment Advisors, “India is being seen as a “haven” in the midst of global unpredictability and geopolitical tensions.”
The blue-chip Nifty 50 and Sensex indices have recovered about 3% from the nearly two-month lows reached late August. India’s first-quarter GDP increased 7.8%, the strongest in a year.
However, Dasgupta said there are “pockets of euphoria” in mid-and small-cap stocks, which are best demonstrated by some of the disproportionate oversubscriptions in poor-quality SME IPOs.
The increases in small- and mid-cap stocks, which have outpaced the 9% advances in blue-chip indices this year, continued on Friday and have now increased by 32% and 29%, respectively.
Public sector businesses (.NIFTYPSE) and energy firms (.NIFTYENR) had the biggest gains, climbing 0.6% and 1.3%, respectively.
The indexes have surged 3.4% and 4.5% this week, propelled by a rally in power companies in response to an unexpected spike in the nation’s demand for electricity.
Individual stock prices increased when Landmark Cars (LANM.NS), a premium car dealer, added Mahindra and Mahindra (MAHM.NS) automobiles to its lineup, reaching an all-time high.
