The equity markets ended the week on a high, touching all-time peaks of 28,334.63 on the Sensex (up 267.07 points) and 8,477.35 (up 75.45 points) on the Nifty.

Banking and financial stocks led the charge, with the BSE Bankex up 478.83 points, closing the day at 20,683.54. News of the merger deal between ING Vysya and Kotak Mahindra continued the bull run on the two stocks, with both seeing much action on volumes. Kotak Bank was up 42 points to hit Rs 1,199.15 and ING Vysya closing at Rs 816.80 (up 2.6 points). SBI (Rs 305.5), ICICI Bank (Rs 1,730.70) and Infosys (down over 79 points to close at 4,146.15) were the other big movers of the day.

Other top gainers on the 50-stock Nifty were Hindalco (up 4.30 points), Axis Bank (up 10.30 points) and Reliance (up 16.95 points). Jindal Steel (down 3.30 points to close at Rs 142.95), Tech Mahindra (down almost 30 points) and Sun Pharma (down 10 points) were the biggest losers on the Nifty. Among sectoral indices, healthcare and IT took a beating.

The small- and mid-cap spaces, however, didn’t share the same enthusiasm, with the BSE Smallcap falling almost 11 points (11,325.84) and the madcap index ending the day lower by 7.94 points (10,195.79).

Jayant Manglik, President – Retail distribution at Religare Securities, said: “The equity markets gaining nearly a per cent on Friday shows that investors are hopeful for the announcement of new reforms in the upcoming winter session of parliament, which begins next week. However, lack of broader participation in the rally made the stock selection difficult for traders.

“We believe this upward would continue but broader participation is required to regain the momentum."

Volatility in the markets was down 2.20 per cent, with the NSE India Vix closing the day at 13.8525. ​

Global market

World shares headed for a second week of gains on Friday after more reassuring US data, while the yen pulled out of its dive as Japan’s finance minister warned its recent weakening had been “too rapid’’.

Euro zone stocks were set for their first weekly gain this month after an early rise, with traders spurred on by signals from Mario Draghi that the European Central Bank is becoming increasingly agitated by the bloc’s feeble growth and inflation.

Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC and pan-regional Euro STOXX 50 were all up between 0.8 and 1 per cent by 0915 GMT, leaving them on course for weekly gains of 3 per cent, 1.3 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively.

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