Indian shares eked out modest gains on Friday as positive global cues offset concerns surrounding rising oil prices and nervousness around the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections.
Global sentiment was upbeat as fresh signs of an easing U.S. labor market helped keep hopes of Fed interest rate cuts alive.
New measures to support the ailing property market in China, Bank of England’s dovish rate decision on Thursday and better-than-expected U.K. GDP growth data released earlier today also boosted investor’s appetite for riskier assets.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex ended the session up 260.30 points, or 0.36 percent, at 72,664.47 after succumbing to heavy selling pressure in the previous session.
The broader NSE Nifty index closed up 97.70 points, or 0.44 percent, at 22,055.20.
BPCL surged 4.5 percent to top the gainers list after the state-run oil marketing company announced a 1:1 bonus issue.
Among other prominent gainers, Eicher Motors, Hero MotoCorp, NTPC and Power GridCorp all rose over 2 percent.
On the flip side, IT stocks such as Infosys, LTIMindTree and TCS fell 1-2 percent.
Drug maker Cipla lost 1.4 percent and private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank gave up 1.2 percent.
Sensex, Nifty End Modestly Higher On Firm Global Cues
2024-05-10 10:23:00
