Indian equity shares edged higher for a second consecutive session on Friday on the back of a 5 per cent gain in Infosys Ltd after its December-quarter earnings beat estimates.
However, indexes posted their biggest weekly falls in four weeks after shares slumped more than 3 per cent on Tuesday, as a continued slide in oil prices roiled the emerging markets.
The Sensex surged 183.67 points or 0.67 per cent to 27,458.38 and the Nifty rose 49.9 points or 0.61 per cent to 8,284.50.
Among BSE sectoral indices, IT index was the star-performer and was up 3.51 per cent, followed by TECk 2.44 per cent, healthcare 1.78 per cent and oil & gas 1.59 per cent, while the realty index fell the most by 1.39 per cent, followed by infrastructure 1.11 per cent, power 0.92 per cent and capital goods 0.41 per cent.
Major Sensex gainers were HUL 5.94%, Infosys 5.02%, Dr Reddy's 3.21%, TCS 2.8% and ONGC 2.77%, while the top five losers were NTPC 3.31%, Bajaj Auto 2.8%, ITC 1.59%, ICICI Bank 1.48% and SSLT 1.36%.
"I think corporate earnings this quarter, should be steady and Infosys was ahead of estimates. We do believe the market sentiment is good for the medium term," said Deven Choksey, managing director at KR Choksey Securities.
Sobha stock up marginally today after steep drop during yesterday's open. Stock pared its losses by closing and opened steady
#realty
— Meera Siva (@siva_meera)
January 9, 2015The Sensex rose 199.62 points to 27,474.33 in the opening trade and the Nifty gained 60.15 points at 8,294.75.
Brokers said value buying in blue-chips by participants which became attractive after recent losses and a firm trend in other Asian markets amid overnight rally in the US as crude oil steadied, buoyed the sentiment.
European shares
European shares snapped a two-day winning streak on Friday, ahead of key US non-farm payrolls data, with Spain’s Banco Santander sliding over 10 per cent after unveiling a capital hike and dividend cut.
Investors were otherwise focused on US data expected later in the day, with the market mood more subdued following strong gains in Thursday’s trading session driven by hopes that central banks would stick to their accommodative post-crisis stance.
Asian markets
Asian stocks rose on upbeat expectations for the closely-watched US jobs data, while the euro continued to flirt with fresh nine-year lows against the dollar.
Taking heart after Wall Street rallied for the second day on Thursday, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1 per cent.
Japan's Nikkei was up 0.5 per cent and Australian shares added 1.4 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.2 per cent.