Markets

Benchmark Sensex rebounded by 1,293 points while Nifty shot up to a record high on Friday, cutting short the five-day losing streak on heavy value buying at lower levels and a rally in blue-chips like Infosys, Airtel and Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,292.92 points or 1.62% to settle at 81,332.72. During the day, it soared 1,387.38 points or 1.73% to 81,427.18. The NSE Nifty surged 428.75 points or 1.76% to settle at an all-time closing high of 24,834.85. As many as 47 of Nifty constituents closed in green while three ended lower.

Sensex and Nifty had been on a decline since Friday last. Sensex tumbled 1,303.66 points or 1.60%, while the Nifty declined 394.75 points or 1.59% in five straight days of losses to Thursday.

All the Sensex shares except for Nestle closed in green on Friday. Bharti Airtel was the biggest gainer, rising by over 4.51%. Adani Ports, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies, Infosys, JSW Steel and Mahindra & Mahindra were the other big gainers.

Nestle was the only loser, closing lower by 0.07%.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge soared 2.12% and smallcap index rallied 1%. All the indices ended higher, with telecommunication jumping 3.36%, metal (3.19%), teck (2.76%), auto (2.35%), commodities (2.26%) and healthcare (2.10%).

Equity market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded in early trade on Friday after staying on the back foot for the past five straight sessions, helped by value buying at lower levels and the rally in blue-chips Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 235.23 points to 80,275.03 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up 86.6 points to 24,492.70.

From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Infosys, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries were the biggest gainers. Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Nestle and Maruti were among the laggards. The unique feature of the bull market in India is its ability to climb all walls of worry. The market dismissed all concerns relating to elections, the Budget and the correction in the mother market US. The buy on dips strategy which has played out well in this rally continues to hold good, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong were trading higher while Shanghai quoted lower.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Thursday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.19 per cent to USD 82.53 a barrel.