Indian shares hit fresh record highs on Friday, riding on a rally in global markets amid optimism over growth trajectory.
The benchmark BSE Sensex ended the session up 184.21 points or 0.54 percent at 34,153.85, while the broader Nifty index rose by 54.05 points or 0.51 percent to 10,558.85.
Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance and YesBank paced the gainers in the Nifty pack to rise 3-5 percent while IOC, HPCL, UPL, Hindalco and Infratel lost 1-2 percent.
Lupin rallied 2.6 percent after launching Flucytosine capsules in the American market. Bharat Forge advanced 1.4 percent after Class 8 truck sales in the US jumped 77 percent in December year-on-year.
Idea Cellular jumped more than 10 percent on reports of fund raising before a proposed merger with Vodafone India Ltd. Reliance Communications gained 2 percent after China Development Bank withdrew its insolvency filing against the company.
Indian Overseas Bank climbed 5 percent after the state-run lender said it would utilize share premium balance to write off the accumulated losses.
Globally, Asian stocks recovered from early losses to finish mostly higher even as regional gains remained modest ahead of the release of the closely-watched U.S. jobs report for December, due later in the day.
The jobs report is expected to show an increase of about 190,000 jobs in December after an addition of 228,000 jobs in November. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.1 percent.
European stocks also opened higher as the greenback edged up against the euro and German retail sales data beat estimates.
by RTT Staff Writer
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