Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty surged Friday in line with a global market rally amid rising hopes that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week.
Optimism over a successful conclusion of India-US trade talks has also fuelled a rally in markets.
Rallying for the fifth day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 355.97 points or 0.44 per cent to settle at 81,904.70. During the day, it surged 444.12 points or 0.54 per cent to 81,992.85.
The 50-share NSE Nifty rallied 108.50 points or 0.43 per cent to 25,114, registering its eighth straight day of uptrend.
From the Sensex firms, Bharat Electronics, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Maruti and Tata Motors were among the gainers.
However, Eternal, Hindustan Unilever, Trent and Titan were the major laggards.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng settled in positive territory, while Shanghai’s SSE Composite index ended lower.
Markets in Europe were trading mostly lower.
US markets ended higher Thursday.
“The Indian market closed at a three-week high, supported by renewed global optimism over a potential Fed rate cut.
“Progress in US-India trade talks is also expected to keep the positive momentum intact in the near term,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,472.37 crore Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 4,045.54 crore, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.47 per cent to USD 66.72 a barrel.
On Thursday, the Sensex climbed 123.58 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 81,548.73, its fourth day of rally. The Nifty rose by 32.40 points or 0.13 per cent to settle at a nearly three-week high of 25,005.50, marking its seventh consecutive day of gains.
PTI
