Gujarat election result to drive Indian stocks


FE Team | Published: December 17, 2017 16:07:41 | Updated: December 18, 2017 12:28:58


File Photo (Collected)

Indian stocks markets ended at an over two-week high on Friday as investors turned optimistic after exit polls forecast a victory for the ruling BJP in the Gujarat assembly election.

The result will be out on Monday.

For the week, the Nifty ended higher by 0.7 per cent at 10,333. The broader markets, however, under-performed, reports Reuters.

The rupee ended at a three-month high on dollar selling by foreign banks, closing at 64.04 against the greenback, compared to the close of 64.44 a week earlier.

Brent crude rose above $65 a barrel for first time since 2015 after an outage at a North Sea pipeline. The rise in oil prices has increased concerns over fiscal deficit and inflation in India.

Globally, the US Fed raised interest rates by 25 bps as expected and chose not to change its stand on inflation, which it says remains low. The ECB left rates unchanged and hiked its growth forecasts.

The winter session of parliament began on Friday and will end on January 5. The government may introduce over a dozen new bills in the present session, the report said.

ICICI Securities, a subsidiary of ICICI Bank, filed draft papers with SEBI to raise an estimated 30-40 billion rupees through an IPO.

IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank will be included in the Sensex from Monday, replacing Cipla and Lupin from the benchmark index.

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