Sensex Surges by 100 Points; Nifty Falls Below 11,000-mark

Mumbai: Domestic equity benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 100 points in early session on Friday, driven by gains in IT and auto stocks, amid positive domestic and global cues.

After touching a high of 37,244.34, the 30-share index pared most gains to trade 9.23 points, or 0.02 per cent, higher at 37,113.51 at 0950 hours, while the broader Nifty slipped 4.95 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 10,977.85.

In the previous session, the BSE barometer settled 166.54 points, or 0.45 per cent, lower at 37,104.28, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 52.90 points, or 0.48 per cent, to close at 10,982.80.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack on Friday included Infosys, TCS, Kotak Bank, Maruti, M&M, Tech Mahindra, HUL, HCL Tech, ITC and PowerGrid, rising up to 1.16 per cent. On the other hand, Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, SBI, L&T, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel and IndusInd Bank fell up to 4 per cent.

According to traders, besides positive cues from global markets, domestic benchmarks rose amid hopes of another rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Driven by costlier food items, retail inflation inched up to 10-month high of 3.21 per cent in August but remained within the RBI's comfort level and may prompt the central bank for one more round of rate cut as another set of government data revealed industrial production growth slowed to 4.3 per cent in July.

Buying by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also buoyed investor sentiment here, traders said. On Thursday, FPIs bought shares worth a net of Rs 783.55 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 126.82 crore, provisional data showed.

Bourses in Hong Kong and Japan were trading in the green in their respective late morning sessions, while those exchanges on Wall Street too ended higher amid signs of easing trade-war tensions between the United States and China.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would delay hiking tariffs on some Chinese goods, just hours after Beijing announced it would remove a range of American products from its own planned levies. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank announced a massive package of rate cuts and economic stimulus.

On the currency front, the rupee appreciated 15 paise against its previous close to 70.98 in early session. Global oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.28 per cent to 60.21 per barrel (intra-day).