India's benchmark share indices ended higher, amid a volatile trading session on Friday, led by ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries recouping its intra-day losses ahead of its third quarter results and share buyback proposal to be announced after market hours today.
The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended up 88 points at 16,732 and the 50-share Nifty ended up 29 points at 5,047.
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(Updated at 14:30 hrs)
The markets gave up their gains and traded flat in late-noon deals, with the BSE Sensex at 16,656, up 12 points and the Nifty at 5,016, down 3 points.
The Indian markets had opened higher tracking strong global cues after the euro rose on Thursday as the solid demand at European bond auctions eased worries about the euro zone debt crisis, while encouraging earnings reports from Morgan Stanley and Bank of America bolstered Wall Street.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei average closed at its highest level in more than two months on Friday, with investor sentiment riding high after upbeat earnings from Morgan Stanley and Bank of America further confirmed the strength of the US economic recovery despite headwinds from Europe's sovereign debt crisis. The Nikkei added 1.5% to 8,766 and gained 3.1% for the week. The Hang Seng index ended at 20,110 and the Shanghai Composite index ended at 2,319, having advanced nearly 1% each.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court today ruled in favour of Vodafone in the $2 billion tax case saying capital gains tax is not applicable to the telecom major. The apex court also said the Rs 2, 500 crore which Vodafone has already paid should be returned to Vodafone with interest. The decision, experts said, will be a big boost for cross-border mergers and acquisitions here. The Income tax department’s contention, if upheld, would have rendered standard transaction structures too risky forcing foreign companies to weigh potentially new litigation and insurance costs.
BSE Bankex, Comsumer Durables and Realty indices are among the top performers, having gained 1-3% each.
BSE banking index has jumped 3.3% at 10,887 levels after both the food and December headline inflation eased significantly, improving growth outlook. The notable gainers from the pack are ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, 4-6% each.
BSE Consumer Durables index has gained 2% at 5,794 and the prominent gainers from the pack are Titan Industries, TTK Prestige and Rajesh Exports, having gained 1-5% each.
Interest rate sensitive Realty pack maintains the steady momentum on expectations that the RBI will start cutting interest rates in the coming months to support the slowing economy. DLF has zoomed by nearly 2%. Parsvnath Developers and Prestige Estates, up 2-5% each, are the significant gainers from among the realty stocks.
On the Sensex, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Wipro and Jindal Steel, up 2-5% each, are the top gainers. The losers from the pack are Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Coal India, ITC and Hindalco Industries, down 2-4% each.
The overall market breadth is marginally negative as 1,386 stocks have advanced against 1,355 advancing ones, on the BSE.