Stocks ride out volatility to end modestly higher

TCS became the first Indian IT company to touch USD 100 billion in market capitalisation after the stock rallied 4.42 per cent intra-day. However, it ended the session below the milestone after shares succumbed to profit-booking.

The BSE Sensex rose 35 points to close at an over two-month high of 34,450.77, while the broader NSE Nifty finished at 10,584.70, up 20.65 points.

Trading was volatile due to negative Asian cues and a weak rupee amid uncertainty surrounding global crude prices as well as US-China trade relations, brokers said.

The 30-share Sensex resumed higher at 34,493.69 but quickly slipped to 34,259.27 on profit booking and weak Asian cues.

It bounced back to touch a high of 34,663.95 as TCS saw heavy buying, before finally ending at 34,450.77, showing a gain of 35.19 points, or 0.10 per cent. 

This is its highest closing since February 5 when it had ended at 34,757.16.

The broader NSE Nifty touched a high of 10,638.35 before settling at 10,584.70 -- up 20.65 points, or 0.20 per cent. Intra-day, it hit a low of 10,514.95.

On a net basis, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 111.01 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold to the tune of Rs 21.02 crore on Friday, provisional data showed. 

"Market ended with marginal gains due to spike in US bond yield and weakening rupee. Results season has started with good expectation. So far companies' unveiled numbers have met with street expectation. 

"On the other hand, normal monsoon expectation is favouring auto and consumption-led stories while volatility in oil price is keeping investors in the doldrums," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

IndusInd Bank topped the Sensex gainers' list by spurting 3.63 per cent, followed by M&M at 2.74 per cent.

Other major gainers were Sun Pharma (1.74 per cent), Asian Paints (1.72 per cent), Yes Bank (1.49 per cent), Adani Ports (1.05 per cent), Kotak Bank (1.03 per cent), RIL (0.77 per cent), Bharti Airtel (0.72 per cent), SBI (0.54 per cent), Dr Reddy's (0.49 per cent), Infosys (0.43 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (0.27 per cent) and Axis Bank (0.12 per cent).

Among the losers, HDFC Bank fell the most at 1.42 per cent, followed by Coal India (0.98 per cent), Hero MotoCorp (0.93 per cent), ICICI Bank (0.85 per cent), Tata Motors (0.82 per cent), ONGC (0.80 per cent), HUL (0.72 per cent), Wipro (0.50 per cent) and NTPC (0.43 per cent).

Sector-wise, realty rose 1.78 per cent, healthcare 1.29 per cent, consumer durables 0.68 per cent, IT 0.67 per cent, teck 0.55 per cent, oil & gas 0.49 per cent, auto 0.33 per cent, PSU 0.25 per cent and bankex 0.24 per cent.

However, metal, FMCG and infrastructure fell by up to 0.90 per cent.

The BSE small-cap index rose 0.53 per cent, while the mid-cap index gained 0.49 per cent.

Indiabulls Housing Finance fell 2.33 per cent despite strong results in the March quarter.

Market heavyweights Reliance Industries, Wipro and Bharti Airtel are scheduled to report March-quarter earnings this week.

Asian stocks declined following a slide in US equities on Friday as investors kept an eye on rising US Treasury yields. Weakness in technology and consumer staples shares offset the latest batch of corporate earnings, which largely continued to beat expectations.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.54 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index inched down 0.11 per cent and Japan's Nikkei declined 0.33 per cent.

European shares also fell as results from Switzerland's biggest bank UBS disappointed investors.

In the Eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index shed 0.35 per cent and Paris CAC 40 was down 0.28 per cent in early session. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index too fell 0.08 per cent.