Indian equity markets ended an eventful and highly volatile session with significant gains on Friday after posting a record intra-day recovery as investors temporarily put aside worries over coronavirus spread and indulged in some bargain buying. The Nifty50 index was locked in 10 per cent lower circuit early morning, prompting a trading halt for 45 minutes. However, once the markets re-opened, the headline indices Sensex and Nifty shot up as much as 5,381 points and 1,604 points, respectively, from their early morning lows. Volitality index surged over 24 per cent during the session.
Sensex closed 1,325 pts, or 4.04 per cent, higher at 34,103 and the Nifty50 index a tad above 10,000 level at 10,023.65, up 433 points, or 4.54 per cent. The rebound was led by index heavyweights like HDFC which ended 10 per cent higher and State Bank of India whichi zoomed 14 per cent. Reliance Industries was also up over 5 per cent. In the end, 27 out of the 30 Sensex constituents ended the session in green.
The broader markets also joined the benchmarks in the upmove. The S&P BSE MidCap index closed 258 points, or 2.09 per cent, higher and the S&P BSE SmallCap index gained 146 points, or 1.26 per cent.
On a weekly basis, however, the Sensex posted worst week in over a decade -- down 11.35 per cent while teh Nifty50 slipped 11.6 per cent for the week.
Shares of Vodafone Idea rallied 38 per cent to Rs 5.80 on the BSE on Friday after media report suggested that the Union Cabinet has likely approved a bailout plan for the stressed telecom industry which proposes to give relief to the telecom companies with respect to their pending adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.
The stock of Vodafone Idea bounced back 53 per cent from its intra-day low of Rs 3.78 on the back of heavy volumes. The market price of the telecom services provider was trading at its highest level since January 27, 2020.
As part of the YES Bank restructuring plan, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) would buy around 1.35 billion shares at a price of Rs 10 apiece, according to a report by business channel CNBC-TV18. On Thursday, State Bank of India (SBI) had said it would infuse Rs 7,250 crore into ailing YES Bank to pick up to 49 per cent equity as part of the Reserve Bank of India-mandated bailout plan.
Global Markets
Stocks plunged on Friday with coronavirus panic selling hitting nearly every asset class, before finding some kind of floor as hopes turned to a US stimulus package.
Japan's Nikkei fell 10 per cent before paring the drop to close 6 per cent lower. Australia's S&P/ASX200 had its wildest trading day on record, falling past 8 per cent before surging in the last minutes of trade to settle 4.4 per cent higher after the close.
In Europe too, markets bounced back from their worst day ever, as signs of a US stimulus package helped soothe fears about an economic shock from the coronavirus pandemic.
In commodity market, oil prices rose over 3 per cent but were set for their worst weekly drubbing since the 2008 financial crisis.
Read by: Sukanya Roy
 "Market Wrap, March 13: Sensex ends 1,325 pts up, Nifty at 10,023")
