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Indian shares rose on Friday after the killing of a pro-EU British politician was seen swaying sentiment in Britain towards the “Remain” camp ahead of the referendum next week.
Domestic sentiment was also buoyed on fresh buying by investors due to lower current account deficit and trade gap in the last fiscal.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended higher by 100.45 points or 0.38 per cent at 26,625.91 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended up by 29.45 points or 0.36 per cent at 8,170.20.
For the week, both indexes ended virtually unchanged.
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty index gained the most by 3.51 per cent, FMCG 0.73 per cent, consumer durables 0.59 per cent and auto 0.56 per cent. On the other hand, healthcare index was down 0.78 per cent, capital goods 0.44 per cent, oil & gas 0.1 per cent and infrastructure 0.04 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Bharti Airtel (+2.73%), HDFC (+2.21%), Tata Motors (+2.03%), Coal India (+2.00%) and TCS (+1.81%), while the major losers were Sun Pharma (-1.45%), Tata Steel (-1.38%), Dr Reddy's (-1.36%), State Bank of India (-1.07%) and L&T (-0.91%).
British lawmaker shot dead
Campaigning for the June 23 vote was suspended after Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox, who vocally advocated for Britain remaining in the 28-member trading bloc, was shot dead on Thursday.
Asian shares rose while European shares were poised for a strong start in a volatile week marked by shifting investor expectations ahead of the Brexit vote.
“If the exit (Brexit) happens, I think at least in the short to medium term, there is going to be lot of liquidation, not only in equity markets globally. Also, there is going to be a lot of volatility in the currency market,” said Gaurang Shah, vice-president, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
He said should Britain leave the EU, the Indian auto, IT and pharma sectors will get hit primarily.
CAD, trade deficit
Trading sentiment got a boost after India’s current account deficit (CAD) for the full fiscal 2015-16 narrowed to $22.1 billion, or 1.1 per cent of GDP, against $26.8 billion, or 1.3 per cent of GDP, in 2014-15 on the back of contraction in the trade deficit.
Also, CAD narrowed sharply to $0.3 billion, or 0.1 per cent of GDP, in the fourth quarter of 2015-16 from $7.1 billion, or 1.3 per cent, in the third quarter, on account of lower trade gap.
The country’s trade deficit for the entire fiscal narrowed to $130.1 billion from $144.9 billion in 2014-15.
A report by SMC Global said: " Asian markets traded higher on the final day of a week marked by volatility amid concerns surrounding key central bank decisions and the UK's upcoming June 23 referendum vote on its future within the European Union. Investor sentiment in Asia also received a boost after US stocks ended a five-day losing streak to close higher Thursday. With homebuilders reporting higher traffic and more committed buyers at their job sites, the National Association of Home Builders released a report showing a bigger than expected improvement in US homebuilder confidence in the month of June. The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index climbed to 60 in June after holding steady at 58 for four consecutive months. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 59. The bigger than expected increase lifted the housing market index to its highest level since reaching 61 in January.''
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