Street gains on realty, healthcare stocks; focus shifts to Q1 earnings

Indian markets rose nearly 1% this week as softer crude oil prices, easing volatility and buying in real estate, healthcare and consumption stocks lifted sentiment.

- Mayur Bhalerao & Niti Kiran

However, weakness in capital goods and power, along with continued pressure on the rupee, showed that the recovery remained selective, and would need support from June-quarter earnings to sustain.

On Friday, the Sensex rose 0.34% to close at 77,763.94, while the Nifty 50 advanced 0.39% to 24,270.85. Volatility eased during the week, with the fear gauge index India VIX falling to 11.79 from 13.05. Besides, crude oil prices continued their slide to $72.70 a barrel from $75.07, offering some relief to an economy that depends heavily on energy imports, while the rupee remained under pressure, weakening 0.92% to 95.223 against the dollar.

Realty stocks led the market rally, with the BSE Realty index surging 7.8% during the week. Healthcare gained 3.1%, while consumer durables and consumer discretionary stocks advanced about 2% each.