Indian markets ended the session on Friday marginally in the green on buying by funds and retail investors in select stocks amid increased foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 38.79 points (0.19 per cent) at 20,286.12 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 17.4 points (0.28 per cent) at 6,187.30.

On the BSE, power, capital goods and realty stocks were the star-performers with power index up 3.08 per cent, capital goods 2.95 per cent and realty 2.02 per cent.

On the other hand, consumer durables, metal and healthcare stocks lost investors’ support with consumer durables index down 0.72 per cent, followed by healthcare 0.39 per cent and metal 0.33 per cent.

Among 30-share Sensex, BHEL (up 4 per cent), NTPC (+2.24 per cent), ICICI Bank (+1.92 per cent), Bajaj Auto (+1.44 per cent) and Jindal Steel (+1.36 per cent) were the top five gainers, while the top five losers were Bharti Airtel (down 1.96 per cent), Dr Reddy’s (-1.8 per cent), Sterlite (-1.32 per cent), Maruti (-1 per cent) and Wipro (-0.94 per cent).

Brokers said the market remained bullish on reports of higher foreign fund inflows on optimism about a rate cut by the Reserve Bank in the wake of falling inflation numbers.

They said a better trend in the Asian region and higher opening in Europe further influenced the trading sentiment to some extent.

FIIs bought domestic stocks worth around $195 million yesterday (Rs 1,070.33 crore), according to BSE provisional data.

European stocks pared their decline as banks advanced, offsetting a Federal Reserve policy maker’s warning that the central bank may reduce its monthly bond purchases as early as this summer.

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