Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex extended gains for the second straight week, surging 219 points to end at 27,324.00, on persistent buying mainly in auto, banking, consumer durable and healthcare stocks on hopes of cut in policy rates by RBI.
Hopes of timely arrival of southwest monsoon by IMD amid short-coverings at the fag-end of the week also boosted the market sentiment.
The Indian Meteorological Department said that conditions are becoming favourable for advancement of southwest monsoon and is likely to hit the Kerala coast on May 30 even as the country stares at the possibly of below normal rains for a second consecutive year.
The Sensex resumed higher at 27,249.42 and hovered in a range of 26,750.01 and 27,544.24 before ending the week at 27,324.00, showing a gain of 218.61 points or 0.81 percent. It has gained 312.69 points of 1.16 per cent in two weeks.
The 50-share NSE Nifty also firmed up by 70.85 points or 0.86 percent to close at 8,262.35 after moving in a range of 8,089.80 and 8,332.75 during the week.
Of the 30-share Sensex pack, 16 stocks rose and the rest fell in the week.
On the macro front, the industrial output growth touched a five-month low of 2.1 percent in March from a revised 4.9 percent in February on the back of an across-the-board slowdown in production while consumer price index-based retail inflation eased to a four-month low of 4.87 percent in April from a revised 5.25 per cent in March as prices of food items, vegetables and fruits turned cheaper.
Inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) remained in negative zone last month. WPI inflation stood at negative 2.65 percent in April. WPI inflation was (-) 2.33 percent in March.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India and China have signed over 20 agreements, covering diverse areas of cooperation.
Major gainers from the Sensex pack were Hero MotoCorp (9.86 percent), SBI (9.76 percent), M&M (5.24 percent), Cipla (4.64 percent), Dr Reddy's (4.25 percent), HDFC (4.10 percent), Axis Bank (3.50 percent), Gail India (2.86 percent), Bajaj Auto (2.47 percent) and Tata Motors (1.16 percent) while HUL fell by 5.53 percent, NTPC 4.15 percent, Vedanta 3.76 percent and Reliance 1.79 percent.
Among the sectoral indices, Auto 3.85 percent followed by bankex 2.57 percent, consumer durables 2.18 percent and healthcare 1.92 percent while realty dropped by 3.03 percent.
Small-cap and mid-cap indices also rose by 1.96 percent and 3.20 percent on fresh buying from retail investors.
The total turnover during the week at the BSE and NSE dropped to Rs 14,906.88 crore and Rs 83,249.96 crore respectively from the last weekend's level of Rs 15,935.18 crore and Rs 88,668.55 crores.
