Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex spurted 1,325.34 points while the Nifty reclaimed the 9,900 level after a highly volatile session on Friday as investors rushed to buy stocks at beaten-down valuations after markets saw their biggest selloff earlier in the day.
As coronavirus-led recession fears triggered panic selling globally, indices plunged over 10 per cent in the opening session, hitting their lower circuit levels.
Stock exchanges halted trading for 45 minutes within 15 minutes for market opening. Normal trading resumed at around 1030 hours.
The last circuit freeze happened in January 2008.
Recovering over 5,380 points from its intra-day low of 29,388.97, the BSE Sensex ended 1,325.34 points or 4.04 per cent higher at 34,103.48.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty settled 365.05 points, or 3.81 per cent, up at 9,955.20. It hit an intra-day low of 8,555.15.
Most Sensex components ended with gains. SBI was the top gainer, rallying over 13 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, HDFC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank.
On the other hand, Nestle India, Asian Paints, HUL, Hero MotoCorp and HCL Tech ended in the red.
Fears of a global recession spiked, triggering a manic selloff in world stocks, analysts said, adding that the market is concerned about the adverse economic impact of government lock-downs across the world to contain Covid-19.
Around 1,30,000 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.
