Highlights
Indian benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 closed higher on Friday. Photo: Mint
- Mumbai: Indian shares rose on Friday, snapping a two-day losing streak, led by bank and auto stocks amid positive sentiment from the global equity markets. However, losses in market heavyweight IT stocks such as Infosys, TCS and HCL Tech limited gains. Moreover, in India, investors turned cautious ahead of corporate earnings season beginning next week, with TCS and Infosys reporting December quarter results in the first round. Shares of state-run banks rallied, with the Nifty PSU Bank Index surging over 2%, following a nearly Rs 27,000 crore recapitalisation drive by the government.The BSE Sensex closed 181.39 points, or 0.51%, up at 35,695.10, and the Nifty 50 ended 55.10 points, or 0.52%, higher at 10,727.35.The BSE midcap and smallcap indices added 0.48% and 0.10%, respectively. Among the sectoral indices on BSE, telecom rallied 2.7% followed by metal, utilities, finance and bankex, which rose 0.9% to 1.4%. IT, teck, consumer durables, FMCG and capital goods declined.“We’re currently seeing tussle between the bulls and bears and indications are in the favour of further slide. Global cues will continue to dictate the trend in absence of domestic trigger thus participants should keep a close watch on world markets,” said Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking Ltd.In global markets, European stocks advanced along with US equity futures as US and China scheduled fresh trade negotiations next week. Asian shares were mixed. Oil prices built on recent gains, heading for its biggest weekly advance since June as OPEC applied production cuts. Here are the latest updates from the markets: