Indian shares ended higher for a seventh straight session on Friday as IT firms gained, while bonds slid on market talk of a potential sovereign ratings upgrade by Standard & Poor's. The benchmark BSE index closed up 0.27 percent at 33,679.24. The broader NSE index ended 0.40 percent higher at 10,389.7. The last time the NSE index rallied for seven straight sessions was between June 12 and June 23, 2015. Both the indexes are up over 1 percent each for the week.
The benchmark 10-year bond fell, with yield rising as high as 7.04 percent. Speculation about an S&P rating upgrade on India surfaced late on Thursday. This comes after a surprise upgrade by Moody's last week. "There is a knee-jerk reaction in the market because of the S&P expectation," said Guarang Shah, head investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
"There could be a bump of 200-300 points, but the markets will consolidate again. However, these upgrades could see new foreign investments coming in." Foreign investors have net bought $2.33 billion worth of Indian shares in November so far. The last time the NSE index rallied for seven straight sessions was between June 12 and June 23, 2015.
The benchmark 10-year bond yield was up 7.01 percent after rising to as high as 7.02 percent earlier in the day. The Nifty IT index, up for a second session with Infosys Ltd leading the gains, was one of the top gainers among sectoral indexes.
"IT stocks were the underperformers when the indexes rallied earlier this month, but better-than-expected quarterly numbers and the ability to scale up operations by launching high margin products will bring traction in this sector," Shah added. Shares of Swaraj Engines Ltd soared as much as 16.9 percent after the company announced a proposal for share buyback.
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