Equity benchmark Sensex opened steadily on Friday, tracking gains in index majors HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and TCS amid positive cues from global markets.
At 10.20 am, the 30-share BSE index was trading 140 points or 0.35 per cent higher at 40,698, and the broader NSE Nifty rose 49 points or 0.42 per cent to 11,946.
Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by Maruti, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, HDFC twins and TCS.
On the other hand, Infosys, HCL Tech, HUL and Asian Paints were the laggards.
In the previous session, Sensex settled 148.82 points or 0.37 per cent lower at 40,558.49, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 41.20 points or 0.35 per cent to 11,896.45.
Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,118.46 crore on a net basis on Thursday.
According to Arjun Yash Mahajan, Head Institutional Business at Reliance Securities, domestic markets look to be good as of now given positive cues from global markets.
“However, we do not expect any meaningful gain and market may consolidate at 11,900-12,000 levels. Ongoing fiscal stimulus negotiations in the US and 2QFY21 earnings are two crucial factors to decide the market direction in the near term,” he said.
Commodities
Oil prices held on to gains made on the previous session on Friday after Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated he would be prepared to extend record supply cuts in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Brent crude was off 1 cent at $42.45 a barrel by 0040 GMT having risen 1.7% on Thursday, while U.S. oil was 2 cents lower at $40.62, following a 1.5% gain in the previous session. Both contracts are heading for their first weekly loss in three.