Markets claw back after sharp sell-off

Benchmark stock indices rebounded on Friday, with the Sensex gaining 315 points, as investors hunted for value in banking, auto and other blue-chip stocks following the previous session’s sharp sell-off.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 315.20 points, or 0.43 per cent, to settle at 73,895.74. It moved in a 490-point range during the session, hitting a high of 73,968.05 and a low of 73,477.77.

The NSE Nifty rose 77.40 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 23,140.50. The recovery came a day after the Sensex plunged 1,247.71 points and the Nifty dropped 383.70 points.

Axis Bank was the biggest Sensex gainer, rising 2.82 per cent, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra at 2.24 per cent, Asian Paints 1.93 per cent, Bajaj Finance 1.21 per cent, HCL Tech 1.17 per cent and Titan 1.01 per cent.

Trent fell 1.41 per cent and was the biggest laggard. Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel also closed lower.

Among sectoral indices, Consumer Durables gained 1.14 per cent, Auto 0.95 per cent, Realty 0.65 per cent, Power 0.53 per cent, Industrials 0.53 per cent and Utilities 0.42 per cent.

Analysts attributed the rebound mainly to selective bargain hunting after the recent decline. Softer crude prices also supported sentiment, with Brent crude falling 1.10 per cent to USD 105.40 a barrel.

“Selective bargain hunting after the recent pullback helped the market retain a positive bias,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments. He added that strong domestic liquidity and the ability of the indices to hold above the 23,000 level reflected domestic resilience.

Reports of progress towards a phased US-Iran agreement also improved sentiment, while investors continued to track global yields, crude prices and foreign fund outflows.

FIIs sold equities worth Rs 5,027.36 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.