Markets gain for 2nd day; Sensex, Nifty climb nearly 1 per cent amid firm global trends

MUMBAI: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rose by nearly 1 per cent on Friday, extending gains for a second day on the back of buying in banking, financials and energy stocks in line with firm global trends.

The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced further by 462.26 points or 0.88 per cent to settle at 52,727.98.

During the day, it rallied 644.15 points or 1.23 per cent to 52,909.87.

The Nifty gained 142.60 points or 0.92 per cent to settle at 15,699.25.

Sensex and Nifty had recovered nearly 1 per cent Thursday.

From the Sensex pack, M&M, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and Tata Steel were the major gainers.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Technologies, TCS, Wipro and Sun Pharma were the laggards.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai ended with sharp gains.

European markets were also trading in the green in mid-session deals.

The US markets had ended with gains on Thursday.

"Mirroring a firm trend in the global market and in response to declining commodity prices, the domestic market maintained its positive trend. The up-move was supported by broad-based buying except in IT," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

International oil benchmark Brent crude rose by 1.11 per cent to USD 111.27 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 2,319.06 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.