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Equities surged on IMD’s monsoon forecast, healthy IT earnings (Market Review)
By Rituraj Baruah and Porisma P.Gogoi
Mumbai, April 21 (IANS) Forecast of normal monsoon rains, along with healthy earnings in the IT sector, lifted the Indian equity markets during the week ended Friday.
Besides, supportive global cues, coupled with expectations of healthy corporate earnings, led the two equity indices — the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 — to extend their rise for the fourth consecutive week.
However, higher crude oil prices, along with a weak rupee and heavy selling pressure in banking stocks — triggered by a likely hawkish stand of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its next monetary policy review — trimmed some gains of the benchmark indices, said market observers.
On a weekly basis, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE rose by 222.93 points or 0.65 per cent to close at 34,415.58 points.
The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed trade at 10,564.05 points — up 83.45 points or 0.80 per cent from its previous week’s close.
“Markets extended their winning streak to the fourth consecutive week on strong earnings from TCS (Tata Consultancy Services), Mindtree and Cyient which posted a better than expected quarterly numbers,” Prateek Jain, Director, Hem Securities, told IANS.
“Sentiments also got a boost from postive global clues and IMD’s (India Meteorological Department) forecast that India is likely to receive a normal monsoon in 2018, which further boosted sentiments,” said Jain.
Rahul Sharma, Senior Research Analyst, Equity99, said: “Investors’ sentiment also got a boost after India’s annual WPI-based inflation eased to 2.47 per cent in March, helped by a fall in food prices.”
“Positive global stocks also supported buying,” Sharma told IANS.
Official data released during market hours on Monday showed that India’s Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation softened to 2.47 per cent in March from a rise of 2.48 per cent reported for February and acceleration of 5.11 per cent in the corresponding month of last year.
On the currency front, the rupee weakened by 92 paise to close at 66.13 against the dollar from its previous week’s close at 65.21.
“The Indian currency got hammered and sank to a 13-month low of 66.06 against the dollar (during the week) due to rapid surge in global crude oil prices and fiscal deficit worries,” D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and MD of SMC Investments and Advisors, told IANS.
“The minutes of the last (previous) meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) indicated the RBI may shift to a hawkish monetary stance in June. At present, market participants looked little worried that the commodity will continue appreciating to new highs, which would spell trouble for Indian markets,” Aggarwal added.
On the investment front, provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 2,821.24 crore, while the domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 2,124.16 crore during the week.
Figures from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) revealed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) divested equities worth Rs 3,096.62 crore, or $471.78 million, during April 16-20.
“The top sectoral gainers were IT, metal, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and realty indices and the major losers were PSU banks, energy and bank Nifty indices,” Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
On Friday, shares of IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rose nearly seven per cent to touch a new high of Rs 3,414 per share, on the back of its robust earnings taking its market capitalisation (m-cap) to over Rs 6.50 lakh crore or around $98 billion.
The top weekly Sensex gainers were: TCS (up 8.11 per cent at Rs 3,406.40); Bharti Airtel (up 6.07 per cent at Rs 400.75); ITC (up 5.81 per cent at Rs 275.95); Power Grid (up 4.94 per cent at Rs 207.30); and Hindustan Unilever (up 3.96 per cent at Rs 1,465.50).
The losers were: Axis Bank (down 6.65 per cent at Rs 505.85); Tata Motors (DVR) (down 5.84 per cent at Rs 190.95); Tata Motors (down 5.72 per cent at Rs 336.25); State Bank of India (down 3.90 per cent at Rs 241.40); and IndusInd Bank (down 2.42 per cent at Rs 1,814.00).
(Riuraj Baruah can be contacted at [email protected] and Porisma P.Gogoi at [email protected])
–IANS
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Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
World-renowned business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has supported Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission. In memory of his mother, Late Veena Verma, who was a 3 term Rajya Sabha MP.
Dr. Verma dedicated a state-of-the-art free permanent shelter for the attendants of patients at KGMU Medical University, Lucknow, under the aegis of Vijay Shree Foundation. His daughter, Nicolle Verma, inaugurated the shelter.
During the event, Foodman Vishal Singh honored Nicolle Verma by presenting her with a memento. Mrs. Nidhi Sharma and Avantika Yadav, associated with the organization, welcomed her with garlands. Following this, Nicolle Verma distributed essential items to the attendants and also handed out fruits. She became emotional remembering her grandmother on her birth anniversary.
On this occasion, she also inaugurated the “Veena Verma Sevalaya” in memory of her grandmother, Veena Verma, to serve the attendants. She expressed, “I feel proud that my family is engaged in nation-building as well as social service. Today, in collaboration with Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh Ji, I feel immensely proud to dedicate this shelter for the poor, helpless, and needy attendants of patients battling serious illnesses like cancer. I am honored to be associated with the Hunger-Free World Mission for humanity.”
Inspired by the continuous humanitarian service provided by Vijay Shree Foundation over the past 17 years, Nicolle Verma donated 10 lakh rupees to support the cause. The purpose of this donation is to ensure that services continue for the needy attendants of patients suffering from severe illnesses in hospitals, as facilitated by Foodman Vishal Singh.
It is noteworthy that Dr. Abhishek Verma’s family has a legacy of public and philanthropic service. They are helping millions to carry forward the values and service work of their parents. On the occasion of his mother’s birth anniversary, Dr. Abhishek Verma dedicated this state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College to serve the attendants of patients through the Vijay Shree Foundation.
Supporting Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission, Dr. Abhishek Verma assured that he would continually support keeping this flame of humanity alive. He also promised to assist in providing medicines to the helpless patients.
Continuing her grandmother’s legacy of service, Nicolle Verma personally served food to the needy patients and attendants. She said, “It is our good fortune to have received the joy of doing this noble work today through Foodman Vishal Singh. I have taken another step forward in carrying my family’s values and cooperation by joining hands with the Vijay Shree Foundation. My father taught me to serve and help the needy, and I feel happy when I bring a smile to someone’s face.”
On the birth anniversary of the late Veena Verma, the event organizer, Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh, said, “We feel proud and happy that Dr. Abhishek Verma, a globally renowned business tycoon, has extended his support to uplift our country from the hunger index. Today, on his mother’s birth anniversary, he inaugurated a state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College, which will always be helpful for the needy attendants of patients. It is a pleasure for me and the organization to receive the affection of Mr. Verma.”
The event was attended by General Manager Verma Family Office Hemant Garg, Sonu Rajput, and the organization’s volunteers, including Sandeep Singh, Parmeshwar Ji, Prashant Rao Gautam, Balram Singh, Ramesh Chaudhary, Suman, Jeetu, Anil, Suraj, Vinay, Manish Bhadauria, Manas Mehrotra, Vivek, Apurv, Happy, and others.
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