Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty found firmer ground on Friday, propelled by a rally in market heavyweights Reliance Industries, ITC and Bharti Airtel amid a supportive trend overseas. However, unrelenting foreign fund outflows and investors' cautious approach capped the sharp gains, traders said.
Recovering from the sharp decline in the previous trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 260.30 points or 0.36 per cent to settle at 72,664.47. During the session, it rallied 542.37 points or 0.74 per cent to 72,946.54. The NSE Nifty climbed 97.70 points or 0.44 per cent to 22,055.20.
On a weekly basis, the BSE benchmark tanked 1,213.68 points or 1.64 per cent, and the Nifty declined 420.65 points or 1.87 per cent.
"Short covering buoyed by strong overseas market cues helped key benchmark indices end in positive territory, although the overall sentiment still remains cautious with bouts of intra-day volatility," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
From the Sensex basket, Power Grid, NTPC, JSW Steel, Asian Paints, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever and Tata Motors were the biggest gainers. On the other hand, Tata Consultancy Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, Wipro, Mahindra & Mahindra and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.
In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.81 per cent, and the smallcap index rose 0.80 per cent. Among the indices, utilities rallied 1.61 per cent, power climbed 1.53 per cent, oil and gas (1.38 per cent), commodities (1.32 per cent), telecommunication (1.30 per cent), and auto (1.07 per cent).
In contrast, IT, bankex, realty and teck were the laggards. "Metals stocks were witnessing buying after base metal prices rallied in LME, including copper, zinc and precious metals like gold and silver. Volatility continued to remain at elevated levels, with India's VIX at 18.5 at a 52-week high.
"Heavy FII selling, and concerns over the outcome of ongoing general elections added to the overall pressure in the markets. Result season has picked up the pace with a lot of heavyweight results leading to stock-specific action," Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said. In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled with gains.
European markets were trading in the green. Wall Street ended in positive territory on Thursday. "Global equities were mostly higher on Friday on earnings optimism and US data that supported the case for interest-rate cuts," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.41 per cent to USD 84.22 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 6,994.86 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. "The fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha election will be held on Monday...and may add to some volatility. Overall, we expect the market to consolidate in a broader range and take cues from Q4 results, global factors, and news flows around the general election," Khemka said.
In the previous session, the BSE benchmark dropped 1,062.22 points or 1.45 per cent to close at 72,404.17. The NSE Nifty dived 345 points or 1.55 per cent to 21,957.50.
