Sensex jumps 181 points; PSU banks rally

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 181 points on Friday while the NSE Nifty reclaimed the 10,700-mark, driven by robust buying in banking, metal and pharma stocks amid positive global cues and a strengthening rupee.

After swinging over 350 points intra-day, the 30-share Sensex finally settled 181.39 points, or 0.51 per cent, higher at 35,695.10.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty ended 55.10 points, or 0.52 per cent, up at 10,727.35.

During the week, Sensex fell 381.62 points and the Nifty shed 132.55 points.

The biggest gainers in the Sensex pack in Friday's session were Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Vedanta, SBI and Axis Bank, spurting up to 3.05 per cent.

The losers included HCL Tech, TCS, Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank and Sun Pharma, falling up to 1.55 per cent.

Sectorally, banking, financial services, metal and pharma indices rallied the most, jumping over 2 per cent.

PSU bank stocks led the rally, with PNB, Union Bank, Bank of India, Andhra Bank and SBI surging up to 4 per cent.

Global investor sentiment was upbeat ahead of a two-day trade talk between the US and China.

A US government delegation will visit China early next week for the first face-to-face talks since President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart agreed on a temporary truce in the trade war, China's commerce ministry said.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 972.81 crore Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 34.52 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Meanwhile, the rupee was trading 33 paise higher against the US dollar at 69.87.

Brent crude futures rose 1.59 per cent to USD 56.84 per barrel.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea's Kospi ended 0.83 per cent higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rallied 2.24 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.05 per cent. Japan's Nikkei, on the other hand, dropped 2.26 per cent.

In Europe, Paris CAC was up 1.17 per cent, while Frankfurt's DAX gained 1.72 per cent in their early deals. London's FTSE rose 1.14 per cent.