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Equity benchmarks ended the session on a positive note, with the Nifty ending well above 10,650-mark. Financials led the surge, backed by a huge jump in Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Meanwhile, automobiles and consumption names were the big gainers, while the Nifty Midcap ended flat.
At the close of market hours, the Sensex was up 361.12 points or 1.02% at 35673.25, while the Nifty was higher by 92.50 points or 0.87% at 10693.70. The market breadth was negative as 1077 shares advanced, against a decline of 1458 shares, while 155 shares were unchanged.
Investors awaited cues from exit polls of elections in five states.
Here a look at the top 10 stocks which moved the most in the week gone by:
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd., up 5.67%
Share price of ICICI Lombard rose over 5 percent for the week. The company has set up a 'virtual company' called ICICI Lombard Digital within the company to spearhead insurance services through a purely digital platform. ICICI Lombard Digital will be a specialised digital arm that cuts across the entire value-chain and leverages partnerships throughout the modern-day internet-ecosystem.
In past one week, it outperformed the market by gaining 14 percent after private equity investor Warburg Pincus sold nearly three percentage point stake in the company through the open market.
Hindustan Unilever, up 4.01%
FMCG major HUL on Monday said its board has approved the merger with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH India) through an-all equity deal, valuing the total business of the latter at Rs 31,700 crore. The transaction is an all equity merger with 4.39 shares of HUL being allotted for every share in GSKCH India, which sells consumer healthcare prodcts, including popular drink brand Horlicks. "HUL has reached a definite agreement with GSKCH India in this regard," the company said in a statement.
The stocks also hit new 52-week high of Rs 1854.80 per share on December 5, 2018.
Kotak Mahindra Bank, up 3.07%
Dutch financial major ING on November 15 sold 1.27 crore shares in Kotak Mahindra Bank for a little over Rs 1,440 crore through an open market transaction. ING Mauritius Investments, the investment arm of the Dutch bank, held 3.73 percent, or over 7.11 crore shares in the private lender at the end of September, data available with the stock exchanges showed.
According to a report by CNBC-TV18, Berkshire Hathaway is reportedly in talks to buy a stake in the private sector lender, which is the country's third largest by market capitalisation. Sources told the news channel that Berkshire Hathaway wants to buy at least 10 percent in Kotak Mahindra Bank and is looking to invest $4-6 billion, but that it has not decided to go through with the investment as yet.
However, the bank has informed the exchanges that it is unaware of any plans by Warren Buffett-owned Berkshire Hathaway to buy a stake in it.
Wipro, up 2.66%
Shares of IT major Wipro gained close to 3 percent for the week as the company and Alfresco expanded partnership to offer open source based digital transformation capabilities. Earlier this week the stock hit new 52-week high hitting the level of Rs 341 per share.
Infosys, up 2.3%
IT major Infosys added 2 percent for the week. On Thursday it announced inauguration of its new technology and innovation hub in Hartford in the US. The company also announced that it has hired more than 7,000 American workers in the last 18 months as a part of its ongoing commitment to accelerate the pace of digital innovation for American enterprises.
"The Hartford hub...will help Infosys work more closely with its clients in the region and will serve as the global Hub for Infosys' InsurTech and HealthTech efforts. The hub will feature living labs for the future of insurance, the future of healthcare and the future of manufacturing amongst others," Infosys said in a BSE filing.
Adani Ports, up 2.13%
Adani Ports rose 2 percent last week. Continued growth in export-import volumes for India and improving profits of shipping lines bode well for the Indian logistics ecosystem, according to Kotak Institutional Equities. The brokerage believes private port operators are better placed to capture the upside than container train operators. Kotak advised buying Adani Ports with a target price at Rs 390 as it believes that the company is better placed to benefit from the uptick in gateway and trans-shipment volumes.
Top losers
Sun Pharma, down 16.51%
Shares of pharma major Sun Pharma tanked over 16 percent for the week gone by related to overhang of corporate governance issues. Snalysts tracking the company said they still haven’t got full clarity on Rs 2,242 crore loans advanced to employees and others, and the benefit of the arrangement with the promoter-owned Aditya Medisales.
Investors are also concerned about a potential investigation by the stock market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on a complaint by a whistleblower. The company said it hasn’t received any communication from SEBI.
Sun Pharma has been trying to restore investor confidence, after a scathing note by Australian brokerage firm Macquarie and a whistleblower complaint to SEBI last week. The drug maker's stock has since dropped to one-fifth of its value.
Mahindra & Mahindra, down 8.83%
Mahindra and Mahindra November tractor sales missed estimates and the company acquired Carnation brand. The company said it has sold 25,949 units of tractors in November, higher by 13 percent compared to 22,994 units sold in same month last year. Domestic tractor sales increased 18 percent year-on-year to 25,159 units, but exports dropped 54 percent to 790 units in the month of November YoY.
Ashok Leyland, down 8.41%
Ashok Leyland shares declined as global brokerage house maintained its sell call on the stock after November sales data. The research house expects the
stock to fall by 6.7 percent to hit a target price at Rs 100 as it sees significant downside risks to estimates if weakness continues. Citi expects commercial
vehicle (CV) sales to peak in FY20, with FY21 being a down-year.
Ashok Leyland sold 13,121 units in November 2018, lower by 9 percent compared to 14,457 units sold in same month last year. Sales were below analysts' expectations. Japanese brokerage firm Nomura had expected the company to sell 14,300 units in November.
Steel Authority of India, down 7.78%
Shares of steel firm Streel Authority of India (SAIL) were down for the week after global investment firm Citi downgraded the stock and cut price target. The research firm said steel prices should normalise in 2019 as demand in world's second largest economy China will slow down to negative 0.4 percent next year against 3 percent growth in current calendar year.
The brokerage house decided to downgrade SAIL to sell from neutral with target of Rs 40 per share.
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