Sensex surges 548 points to close at 37,020; Nifty settles above 10,900

NEW DELHI: Equity indices finished higher on Friday with the benchmark BSE sensex rising nearly 550 points led by gains in financial and banking stocks.
The 30-share BSE index surged 548 points or 1.50 per cent to finish at 37,020; while the broader NSE Nifty settled 162 points or 1.51 per cent higher at 10,902.
Top gainers in the sensex pack included ONGC, Reliance, HDFC Bank, Titan, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank and M&M with their shares rising as much as 5.78 per cent. 25 out of 30 stocks finished in green.
While TCS, Nestle India, Infosys, HCL Tech and Axis Bank were the only losers falling as much as 1.45 per cent.
On the NSE platform, aub-indices Nifty Financial Services, Bank and Private Bank gaining up to 2.27 per cent.
According to traders, positive earnings reports from key index components led to stock-specific buying, lifting sentiments.
Corporate earnings among blue-chip companies have so far been positive with IT majors Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies beating estimates and only Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) missing. HCL also reported a better-than-expected profit for the first quarter.
"No amount of negativity looks to be bogging down the sentiment as of now. There are also very little investment opportunities outside of the capital markets at the moment," Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services, Kochi told news agency Reuters.
"As opposed to previous quarterly responses to numbers, investors right now are looking far ahead and are hoping sector after sector will find ways to hold through during this rough weather," James added.
On the currency front, the rupee appreciated 16 paise to close at 75.02 (provisional) against the US dollar tracking positive domestic equities and weakening American currency.
(With agency inputs)