Sensex jumps over 350 points, Nifty tops 18,950; Shriram Finance, Karnataka Bank gain up to 6%

Indian equity benchmarks traded higher in Friday's early trade, halting their six-day losing run. The domestic indices were up led by gains in banks, financials, automobile and energy stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack rose 351 points or 0.55 per cent to trade at 63,499, while the NSE Nifty moved 97 or 0.51 per cent up to trade at 18,954. Broader market (mid- and small-cap) shares were also positive as Nifty Midcap 100 climbed 1.05 per cent and small-cap gained 1.40 per cent.

On the global front, Asian markets opened higher today. Overnight, Wall Street equities closed lower on mixed economic data and weak earnings.

Brent crude futures slipped from $90 per barrel mark. A drop in oil prices is positive for importers of the commodity, like India. In addition, European Central Bank holding interest rates at 4 per cent after 10 consecutive hikes sent a red signal to the bears.

Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Rs 7,703 crore worth of shares on a net basis during the previous session, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought a net Rs 6,558 crore of shares.

All the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Auto and Nifty Oil & Gas were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 0.87 per cent, 1.36 per cent, 1.15 per cent and 1.06 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, NTPC was the top gainer in the Nifty pack as the stock jumped 2.03 per cent to trade at Rs 236.35. Apollo Hospitals, SBI, Adani Enterprises and Coal India gained up to 1.66 per cent.

In contrast, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top laggards.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,434 shares were advancing while 342 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank and L&T were among the top gainers.

Also, Shriram Finance Ltd, Karnataka Bank Ltd, Welspun India, Cressanda Solutions, Jyoti Resins and LT Foods surged up to 5.96 per cent. On the flipside, Westlife Foodworld, Prestige Estates, Sterlite Technologies, VRL Logistics and Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC slipped up to 6.19 per cent.

Nifty outlook

"We will look for a push towards 19,000-19,050. But a pull back below 18,900 towards closing could signal that bears have regrouped and completed the 18,600 trajectory," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Also read: Mamaearth IPO: Shilpa Shetty, Cred's Kunal Bahl, Marico promoter to make up to 101x gains