The domestic stock market ended flat with a positive bias on Friday. The S&P BSE Sensex settled 14 points, or 0.04 per cent higher at 38,854.5 levels while NSE's Nifty ended at 11,464, up 15 points, or 0.13 per cent. India VIX dropped nearly 3 per cent to 20.68 levels.
SBI (up 2 per cent) ended as the top gainer on the S&P BSE Sensex while IndusInd Bank (down nearly 2 per cent) was the biggest loser. Of 30 constituents, 10 advanced while 20 declined.
On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 1.29 per cent while Nifty added 1.15 per cent.
The broader market, however, fared bettter than the frontline indices. The S&P BSE MidCap index settled at 14,660 levels, up 0.58 per cent and the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended 0.52 per cent higher at 14,558.
Sectorally, IT stocks rallied the most. The Nifty IT index ended 1.29 per cent higher at 18,633 levels. Nifty PSU Bank index gained 0.79 per cent while Nifty FMCG index settled 0.63 per cent higher at 30,972 levels.
Buzzing stocks Shares of Wipro and Tata Elxsi hit their respective 52-week highs on the BSE on Friday on the expectation of strong earnings growth in the current quarter (July-September) of financial year 2020-21 (FY21).
READ MORE Shares of Max Healthcare Institute (MHIL) hit a high of Rs 133.80 on the BSE during the day on the back of heavy block deals. The stock settled at Rs 131.30, up around 17.5 per cent.
READ MORE Strides Pharma ended nearly 13 per cent higher at Rs 685.90. In the past two months, the stock has rallied over 64 per cent after the company reported strong performance across all business segments in the April-June 2020 quarter (Q1FY21) despite significant disruptions and ambiguity in the business environment due to Covid 19.
READ MORE Global markets European shares struggled for momentum on Friday as doubts about extra monetary stimulus and overnight falls in US big tech shares kept investors on edge. The pan-European STOXX 600 opened lower before gaining 0.2 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.4 per cent, moving away from a one-month trough touched earlier this week. Japan's Nikkei rose after Tokyo dropped its coronavirus alert by one notch from the highest level as Covid-19 cases trend down.
US futures were higher, pointing to recovery on Wall Street after losses on Thursday put the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite on course for a second straight week of losses.
In commodities, oil prices fell for a second day and were on track for a second weekly fall after US stock markets tumbled and US stockpiles rose unexpectedly.
(With inputs from Reuters)