Nifty rises after recent losses; blue chips gain

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Nifty rose 0.7 percent on Friday, snapping a four-session losing streak as investors saw some of the blue chips such as Sun Pharmaceutical Industries as oversold even as broader sentiment remained cautious.

The Nifty was still headed for an around 3 percent fall for the week, the second biggest weekly decline this year, after India forecast lower-than-expected monsoon rainfall in the months ahead.

That has raised worries the Reserve Bank of India could hold off cutting interest rates again after easing the repo rate by 25 basis points on Tuesday.

A Reuters poll conducted after the RBI policy review showed analysts still expected a further 25 bps cut later this year as markets wait to see how the monsoon will actually impact food prices.

 

"I think it's good that we are seeing bargain hunting. We reacted as if monsoon was done and dusted and inflation were spiking," said Gaurang Shah, vice-president at Geojit BNP Paribas.

"Some stocks are looking extremely attractive."

The broader Nifty was up 0.6 percent after falling 3.6 percent over the previous four sessions.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was up 0.7 percent, but down around 2.9 percent for the week.

Some of the recent decliners led the gains on Friday. Sun Pharma was up 3.1 percent after slumping 13.9 percent over the previous four sessions after disappointing January-March earnings.

Coal India rose 4.9 percent, having earlier hit its highest since June 2014, following a raft of positive research reports after its January-March earnings.

Morgan Stanley upgraded Coal India to "overweight" from "equal-weight."

(Reporting by Rafael Nam; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)