Markets Follow India to End the Week on a Winning Streak

Markets gained smartly in late-noon trades on the back of buying in IT stocks. A positive closing for Asian markets and reports that the government has tabled some key reform bills in parliament this week helped the index to end in the positive for the fourth straight day. Wall Street had another good session with the sentiment rubbing on to the Asian bourses. India dutifully latched on to the optimistic mood. Asian markets jumped in trades with Nikkei gaining after two days. The Japanese market moved up 1% to 9,536. Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite were up 1% each. The Sensex after trading firm in the morning, shot up as IT stocks gained. The BSE benchmark touched a high of 18,858 - up over 500 points from the previous close. The index finally settled at 18,815 - up 464 points. The Nifty ended up 132 points at 5,654 crossing the 5,600 mark after 14 trading days. Broader markets were trading firm but could not manage to outperform the benchmark. The BSE mid and small cap indices gained 1% each to 6,723 and 8,001, respectively. Fertiliser shares edged higher on reports demand for fertilizer may climb 4% this monsoon season. Nagarjuna Fertilizer jumped 1.6% to Rs 27.70. Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore added 1.2% to Rs 39.65. RCF was up 2% at Rs 81. Travel support services companies, Thomas Cook (India) and Cox & Kings rallied on back of huge volumes. Thomas Cook surged 20% to its upper circuit of Rs 52.95. Cox & Kings added 10% to Rs 426. Volumes on each counter soared 10 times today.