Markets sign off 2017 with 28 pc gains

Equities rallied on the last trading session of 2017 today, bringing to close a remarkable year that saw the benchmarks surging past milestones and rewarding investors with a stellar 28 per cent returns.

The BSE Sensex rose 209 points to finish at a fresh life-time high of 34,056.83 today, while the broad-based NSE Nifty jumped 52.80 points, or 0.50 per cent, to end at 10,530.70, just shy of its closing peak.Power, IT, auto and infrastructure stocks witnessed robust buying, while the beginning of the January 2018 series of futures and options added to the momentum.

The Sensex clocked its best performance in recent years, rising by 7,430.37, or 27.91 per cent in 2017.It had gained 508.92 points, or 1.94 per cent, last year.The Nifty too rallied 2,344.90 points, or 28.65 per cent, in 2017."Market surprised the investors with a positive note on the final trading day of 2017. Expectation of a pickup in third quarter earnings and strengthening of rupee supported the sentiment.

"Focus on upcoming Union Budget and government's reforms will direct investors to turn sector/stock specific. We feel that though the outlook on main indices is moderate in the short to medium-term, the broad market will maintain its vibrancy as businesses flourish," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The broad-based NSE Nifty rose 52.80 points, or 0.50 per cent, to end at 10,530.70 after trading between 10,538.70 and 10,488.65.Both the indices rose for the fourth straight week. The Sensex advanced by 116.53 points, or 0.34 per cent, while the Nifty gained 37.70 points, or 0.35 per cent, during the period.

Shares of Reliance Communications continued their rally for the fourth straight session today, ending 17 per cent higher after Mukesh Ambani stepped in to bail out the debt- ridden firm by acquiring spectrum, tower, optical fibre network and other assets.In four days, shares of the company have zoomed 122 per cent adding Rs 5,506.76 crore to its market capitalisation.

In the Sensex kitty, Tata Motors saw the maximum gain of 3.06 per cent, followed by Axis Bank (2.74 per cent), TCS (2.72 per cent), Hero MotoCorp (2.38 per cent), Adani Ports (1.94 per cent), Wipro (1.90 per cent), Asian Paints (1.16 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.05 per cent), HDFC Ltd (0.94 per cent), ONGC (0.85 per cent), NTPC (0.83 per cent) and Hindustan Unilever (0.79 per cent).

Sector-wise, the rally was driven by telecom (up 1.63 per cent), power (1.46 per cent), teck (1.24 per cent), IT (1.20 per cent), auto (1.16 per cent), FMCG (0.85 per cent), consumer durables (0.85 per cent), infrastructure (0.83 per cent), capital goods (0.51 per cent), realty (0.46 per cent), bankex (0.36 per cent) and healthcare (0.18 per cent).The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices ended higher by 0.74 per cent and 0.64 per cent, respectively.

Trading was thin across global markets on the last session of the year. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.19 per cent while Shanghai Composite gained 0.33 per cent. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.08 per cent.European markets were down in early trade with Paris CAC 40 falling 0.11 per cent, while Frankfurt's DAX shed 0.29 per cent. London's FTSE rose 0.27 per cent.