Mumbai | Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed higher for a second straight day on Friday as buying in index majors M&M, Reliance Industries, and ITC helped the indices rebound from early lows.
However, relentless foreign fund outflows capped the sharp gains in domestic equities, traders said.
In a largely range-bound trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 253.31 points, or 0.34 per cent, to settle at 73,917.03.
The NSE Nifty advanced 62.25 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 22,466.10.
M&M was the biggest gainer on the Sensex chart, rising 5.97 per cent, followed by JSW Steel, Ultra Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ITC and NTPC.
Reliance Industries gained 0.73 per cent to close at Rs 2,871 apiece.
In contrast, TCS, HCL Tech, HUL, Nestle India, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro and Infosys were among the losers.
"Despite mixed global signals and uncertainties surrounding the US Fed, the Indian market experienced a robust recovery, largely fuelled by the outperformance of the broader market and positive Q4 earnings.
"Further, some index heavyweight earnings surpassed expectations, and midcap and smallcap stocks continued to exhibit buying interest during dips. Auto and consumer durables particularly stood out with strong earnings momentum," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge rose 1.18 per cent and smallcap index gained 1.39 per cent.
Sectorally, consumer durables jumped 2.41 per cent, followed by auto (1.80 per cent), realty (1.68 per cent), metal (1.50 per cent), commodities (1.55 per cent), industrials (1.26 per cent) and oil & gas (1.19 per cent).
On the other hand, IT and tech were the laggards.
"World equities were mostly lower on Friday as traders now expect just one rate cut in 2024, though Chinese stocks reversed earlier losses following the announcement of fresh measures to revive the ailing property market," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong logged gains, while Seoul and Nikkei closed in the red.
European markets were trading in the negative territory. Wall Street ended in the green in the overnight trade on Thursday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.25 per cent to USD 83.48 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 776.49 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
On Thursday, the BSE benchmark climbed 676.69 points or 0.93 per cent to settle at 73,663.72. The NSE Nifty surged 203.30 points or 0.92 per cent to 22,403.85
