New Delhi: Stock markets recovered on Friday with the benchmark Sensex closing higher by nearly 232 points following buying in blue-chip bank shares amid positive global trends.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 231.99 points, or 0.31 percent, to settle at 75,415.35. During the day, it surged 627.61 points, or 0.83 percent, to 75,810.97.
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The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 64.60 points or 0.27 percent to end at 23,719.30.
Hopes of progress in the US-Iran peace negotiations added to markets' optimism, analysts said.
Among 30 Sensex firms, Trent, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finance were the major winners.
Sun Pharma, ITC, Power Grid and Bharat Electronics were among the laggards.
"Domestic markets traded with a mild positive bias, supported by buying at lower levels and moderately constructive global cues, expecting easing tensions in the Middle East. Globally, the AI investment theme remained the primary driver, while domestically, financial stocks led the gains," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments.
The BSE MidCap Select index went up by 0.30 percent, while SmallCap Select index declined 0.60 percent.
Among sectoral indices, Private Banks Index rallied 1.35 percent, Top 10 Banks jumped 1.23 percent, Bankex by 1.18 percent, Telecommunication by 0.93 percent and Financial Services by 0.90 percent.
Hospitals dropped the most by 1.39 percent, followed by Healthcare (1.23 percent), IT (0.32 percent), Focused IT (0.29 percent), Power (0.18 percent) and Energy (0.09 percent).
A total of 2,213 stocks advanced, while 1,971 declined and 179 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Nair said that markets remain range-bound, with strong DII inflows cushioning the downside and persistent FII selling limiting the upside. The market is in a buy-on-dips and sell-on-rallies pattern, he added.
On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark climbed 177.36 points, or 0.23 percent. The Nifty went up by 75.8 points, or 0.32 percent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 2.3 percent to USD 104.7 per barrel.
In Asian markets, South Korea's benchmark Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended higher.
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Markets in Europe were trading in positive territory. US markets ended higher on Thursday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,891.21 crore in the previous session, according to exchange data.
On Thursday, the 30-share BSE benchmark declined 135.03 points, or 0.18 percent, to settle at 75,183.36. The Nifty skidded 4.30 points, or 0.02 percent, to end at 23,654.70.
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