Market stages sharp recovery; Sensex rebounds 642 points

MUMBAI: Snapping its five-session losing streak, equity benchmark Sensex rebounded 642 points on Friday, led by gains in index majors RIL, HUL and ICICI Bank despite negative cues from global markets.

After opening with significant losses, the 30-share BSE index made a U-turn to end 641.72 points or 1.30 per cent higher at 49,858.24.

The broader NSE Nifty surged 186.15 points or 1.28 per cent to finish at 14,744. NTPC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4 per cent, followed by HUL, PowerGrid, Reliance Industries, ITC, UltraTech Cement and Bajaj Finance.

On the other hand, L&T, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Titan were among the laggards. "Despite weak global cues, domestic equities recovered sharply today after five days of back-to-back fall," said Binod Modi, Head - Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Notably, a sharp recovery in FMCG, pharma, metals and Reliance Industries helped benchmark indices to recover from initial losses.

Moderate contraction in bond yields offered support to domestic equities despite prevailing concern of rise in daily COVID-19 cases, he said, adding that the recent spike in new infections is unlikely to dent the improved prospects of economic recovery meaningfully.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a negative note. Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with losses in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.36 per cent higher at USD 64.14 per barrel.