The Nifty and the Sensex ended higher for the seventh straight week, up half a percent lifted by gains in metal, IT, auto, and realty sectors.

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The Monetary Policy Committee on Thursday cut the repo rate by 25 basis points while keeping stance neutral (5:1 majority). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also cut growth as well as inflation forecast.

However, analysts expect the market to soon shift focus to the March-quarter corporate earnings beginning next week and the first stage of voting.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 38,862, up 177 points, while the broader NSE Nifty50 settled at 11,666, adding 68 points. Broader markets outperformed frontline indices with the Nifty Midcap and the Nifty Smallcap indices rising 0.8 and 1 percent, respectively.

Among sectors, the Nifty Metal rose the most, up 3 percent followed by the Nifty Auto (up 2.7 percent), the Nifty Realty (up 2.5 percent), and the Nifty IT (up 1.9 percent).

Nifty Gainers

Tata Motors was the best performing stock this week, gaining nearly 18 percent as the company expects improved earnings performance in March quarter and an increase in cash flow from operations. The stock is up 5 percent in last one month as compared to a 6 percent jump in the Nifty and a 1.4 percent fall in the Nifty Auto index.

Bharti Airtel (up 7 percent), Maruti Suzuki (up 6.5 percent), Tata Steel (up 5.4 percent), Indiabulls Housing (up 5.2 percent) and Bajaj Finserv (up 5 percent) were the other top gainers in the index.

Bharti Airtel rose 7 percent on reports that Singtel and Bharti Airtel are set to make a combined offer to buy Dish TV, in its bid to give a tough competition to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio.

Singtel and Airtel are looking to acquire promoter’s 60 percent stake in Dish TV for around Rs 6,150 crore, said the above sources on condition of anonymity. The deal price will be Rs 55 per share to trigger an open offer.

Tata Steel gained 5.4 percent after S&P upgraded its outlook for the stock from stable to positive as they expect continued stable outlook for Indian steel prices will keep Tata Steel's earnings robust over the next 12 months.

Meanwhile, Indiabulls Housing Finance rallied over 5 percent after the firm said it would deliver 17-19 percent net profit growth in FY20 and plans to raise Rs 26,000 crore in four quarters of FY20. It also rose on reports that it has been discussing a possible merger with Tamil Nadu-based Lakshmi Vilas Bank.

Nifty Losers

Energy stocks were among the major losers this week after oil prices rose to five-month highs during the week. BPCL and IOC fell 10 percent and 3 percent, respectively during the week.

Zee declined over 7.5 percent on brokerage downgrades after Sony's proposed acquisition of Zee's stake was called off. According to reports, Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal are considering competing bids for a stake in the troubled television network, now.

Private banks also fell for the week with Yes Bank and ICICI Bank down 3 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Sun Pharma and Titan also slipped 3.3 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.

MidCap Gainers

In the midcap space, PNB Housing Finance was the top performer, up 8 percent after Punjab National Bank offloaded stake in the company. PNB will sell part of its stake in unit PNB Housing Finance to global private equity firms General Atlantic Group and Värde Partners for a total consideration of about Rs 1,851 crore.

Jubilant life, Strides Pharma, Hexaware, Gruh Finance and SRF also rose between 3.5 to 6.6 percent.

MidCap Losers

Reliance Power fell 7.5 percent this week followed by Amara Raja Batteries (down 5.3 percent), IDBI Bank (down 4.2 percent), Canara Bank (down 3.9 percent), and Bank of India (down 3.3 percent).

First Published:Apr 5, 2019 7:26 PM IST