Global cues trigger relief rally

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.

“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. 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,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head (retail research), Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.81 per cent, and the smallcap index rose 0.80 per cent.