By Porisma P. Gogoi

Mumbai, Dec 9 (IANS): Robust buying during the last two sessions of the trading week amid strong cues from the global markets and persistent pumping in of funds by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) lifted the key domestic equity indices from their previous week's lows.

Market observers said the upward rally was also fuelled by positive hopes of the ruling BJP's win in the crucial two-phased Gujarat assembly elections on December 9 and December 14.

On a weekly basis, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rose by 201.26 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 33,034.20 points.

The broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) edged higher by 143.85 points, or 1.42 per cent, to close the week's trade at 10,265.65 points.

"After weakness seen in the early part of the week, markets bounced back sharply from the lows of 10,033 to end the week on a positive note. Market breadth was positive in two out of the five trading sessions of the week," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.

"Sectorally, FMCG, consumer durables, IT and oil and gas gained the most over the week, while there were no weekly losers among sectors," he added.

On the currency front, the rupee strengthened by only two paise to close at 64.45 against the US dollar from its last week's close at 64.47.

D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Investments and Advisors, said: "The domestic market ended the last trading day of the week in green after buying by retail investors and domestic institutions gathered momentum amid strong global cues."

"The sentiment also remained upbeat on strong global equity markets amid fall in crude oil prices and opinion polls suggesting BJP may see an easy win in the Gujarat elections," Aggarwal told IANS.

Provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that DIIs invested in scrips worth Rs 5,015.36 crore, while foreign institutional investors continued to remain net sellers and sold stocks worth Rs 4,772.85 crore during the week.

Figures from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) revealed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) divested equities worth Rs 4,088.89 crore, or $634.5 million, from December 4-8.

"After a sharp sell-off in the start of the week Indian equity benchmark Nifty50 rose in last two days led by gains in ITC, HDFC and ICICI Bank and closed above 10,250 levels," Arpit Jain, AVP at Arihant Capital Markets, told IANS.

"Meanwhile, the RBI meet concluded on expected lines, as the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) maintained a status quo on the repo rates -- a widely expected move and in concurrence with the neutral policy stance," Jain added.

Data released during market hours on Wednesday revealed that the RBI maintained status quo on key lending rates citing concerns over the rising trajectory of inflation. It retained the economic growth projection for the current fiscal.

The central bank said its repurchase rate, or the short-term lending rate for commercial banks, had been maintained at 6 per cent. Consequently, the reverse repo rate remained at 5.75 per cent.

The top weekly Sensex gainers were: Bharti Airtel (up 8.67 per cent at Rs 525.15); Hindustan Unilever (up 5.94 per cent at Rs 1,326.70); Maruti Suzuki (up 5.03 per cent at Rs 9,040.85); Infosys (up 4.49 per cent at Rs 1,001.55); and Tata Motors (up 2.98 per cent at Rs 411.05);

The losers were: Coal India (down 2.75 per cent at Rs 264.75); Hero MotoCorp (down 2.60 per cent at Rs 3,513.05); Wipro (down 2.14 per cent at Rs 283.25); Dr. Reddy's Lab (down 2.03 per cent at Rs 2,185.15); and Mahindra and Mahindra (down 1.44 per cent at Rs 1,388.95).