)
The Sensex rose for a fourth consecutive session on Friday to close at its highest in a week, as Tata Steel shares surged after rival ArcelorMittal SA's operating profit beat estimates, while foreign investors turning net buyers after a five-day selling streak also helped.
Foreigners bought Rs 10.75 crore worth of Indian shares on Thursday to snap their five-day selling streak totalling $542 million in secondary markets, provisional exchange and regulatory data shows.
Analysts say that with the Nifty taking support at its 200 day moving average, any follow-up buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) will help reverse the short-term trend which had turned down.
Gains also tracked higher global shares that further recovered from a steep two-week selloff, buoyed by expectations that a January US jobs report due later on Friday will soothe recent concerns about the pace of global growth.
The Sensex rose 0.32 per cent, or 65.82 points, to end at 20,376.56. It ended 0.7 per cent lower for the week. The Nifty rose 0.45 per cent, or 26.90 points, to end at 6,063.20. It marked a weekly fall of 0.4 per cent.
Consumer inflation data for January due on Wednesday and wholesale inflation data on Friday will be the next key domestic triggers.
Tata Steel Ltd jumped 6.4 per cent after traders took positive cues from ArcelorMittal SA December-quarter results. ArcelorMittal reported an operating profit of $1.9 billion, higher than a Reuters poll consensus of $1.801 billion.
Among other blue chips, Larsen and Toubro rose 0.9 per cent, while Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd rose 2.9 per cent.
Tata Motors Ltd rose 0.7 per cent on optimism ahead of its December earnings on Monday.
Aurobindo Pharma ended 2.8 per cent higher. It earlier rose to an all-time high of Rs 539.85 after posting a four-fold increase in profit to Rs 417 crore for the December quarter, beating some analysts estimates.
Reliance Infrastructure rose 2.1 per cent after the Supreme Court on Friday ordered state-run power producer NTPC Ltd to continue supplying power to distribution companies in the capital, New Delhi, until March 26, a move that averts a blackout next week.
Hexaware Technologies rose 4.9 per cent after the company's quarterly net profit rose by 56 per cent to Rs 103 crore, beating expectations.
Among stocks that fell, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd fell 0.9 per cent on short positions in the futures market, dealers said.
The high costs charged for lending and borrowing on BHEL indicate shorts are building up, say analysts.
