Indian benchmark equity indices ended Friday’s session with gains of more than 1 per cent, supported by optimism ahead of the first-quarter earnings season, easing crude oil prices, strong buying in information technology stocks and improved foreign investor sentiment.
The NSE Nifty 50 settled at 24,206.90, up 244.10 points or 1.02 per cent, while the BSE Sensex closed at 77,569.39, gaining 827.57 points or 1.08 per cent.
According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, the market is showing signs of a strong recovery after a brief correction.
“After a brief interim correction, the market appears to be on track for a strong recovery. Positive business updates from banks, along with a constructive outlook for the IT sector driven by in-line estimates, a potential rebound in global spending, and AI-related opportunities, have set the stage for an optimistic start to the Q1 earnings season. A continuation of better-than-expected Q1 results should help alleviate concerns about future earnings growth. This can further the current uptrend, which is supported by a broad-based rally, with strong participation from sectors such as real estate and metals,” he said.
Mr. Nair added that easing crude oil prices and a recovery in the technology sector have improved global sentiment towards India, leading to a rebound in foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows.
Among the sectoral indices on the NSE, Nifty PSU Bank emerged as the top performer, rising more than 3 per cent. Nifty IT gained 1.96 per cent, Nifty Metal advanced 1.48 per cent, Nifty Private Bank climbed 1.16 per cent, Nifty Auto added 0.69 per cent, and Nifty Pharma edged up 0.07 per cent.
Nifty FMCG was the only sectoral index to end in the red, slipping 0.08 per cent.
Brent crude was trading at USD 76.10 per barrel at the time of writing. In the bullion market, 24-karat gold fell 0.65 per cent to ₹1,44,359 per 10 grams, while silver declined more than 1.4 per cent to ₹2,23,103 per kilogram.
Riyank Arora, Associate Vice President – HNI & Derivatives at Hedged.in, said the rally reflected renewed buying interest.
“The strong rally indicates renewed buying interest and reinforces the positive market trend. As long as benchmark indices continue to hold above their immediate support levels, the broader outlook remains bullish. Traders may continue to adopt a buy-on-dips strategy while maintaining disciplined risk management,” he said.
Asian markets also ended higher on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.42 per cent, Singapore’s Straits Times gained 0.65 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.45 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi surged 2.46 per cent. (ANI)
