Markets march higher for third day in a row

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks finished in the green for the third session on the trot on Friday as investors scooped up FMCG, finance and banking stocks despite negative overseas cues and rising Covid-19 cases.

Investors wagered on India further relaxing lockdown norms next week, though they were also cautious ahead of release of Q4 GDP data, analysts said.

After a gap-down opening, the 30-share BSE Sensex picked up pace in late-afternoon trading to finish at 32,424.10, up 223.51 points or 0.69 per cent.

On similar lines, the NSE Nifty advanced 90.20 points or 0.95 per cent to close at 9,580.30. During the holiday-shortened week, the Sensex rallied 1,751.51 points or 5.71 per cent, while the Nifty spurted 541.05 points or 5.98 per cent.

ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack on Friday, jumping 5.52 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, ITC, Sun Pharma, Nestle India, L&T, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti.

On the other hand, Infosys, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, TCS and Titan were among the laggards, shedding up to 2.25 per cent.