Stock Market: Sensex Rises 200 Points; Nifty Trades Around 19,600. Metals, Pharma Lead

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, NTPC has been the lead gainer, up 2.52 per cent. Tata Motors, L&T, SBI, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel were among the other gainers

After lacklustre trading on Thursday, the two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday rebounded sharply in the morning session. At 9.55 am, the BSE Sensex quoted 65,705, up 197 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty was trading at 19,592, up 68 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, NTPC has been the lead gainer, up 2.52 per cent. Tata Motors, L&T, SBI, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel were among the other gainers. On the downside, Infosys, Wipro, TCS, TechM, Asian Paints, HCL emerged losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices added 0.33 per cent and 0.24 per cent, respectively.

Sectorally, the Nifty Pharma and Metal indices advanced 1 per cent each, while the Nifty IT index fell 0.3 per cent.

In the previous session on Thursday, the S&P BSE Sensex plunged 610 points to 65,508. The NSE Nifty50 ended at 19,524, down 193 points.

"Markets may see a firm opening on the back of strong global cues, but stocks are likely to fluctuate intra-day given the uncertainty over rising interest rate scenario, surge in the US dollar and bond yields, and rising crude oil prices," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said in his pre-opening market comment.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading in the positive territory. The US markets ended in the green on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.05 per cent to $95.43 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,364.22 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee rose 9 paise to 83.10 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday amid a retreating dollar versus major rivals and positive cues from equity markets. Massive selling of equities by foreign investors and an upward trend in crude oil prices, however, capped the rise of domestic currency, forex dealers said.

The Indian unit opened strong at 83.13 against the US dollar and touched the highest level of 83.09. It later traded at 83.10 against the greenback, registering a gain of 9 paise from its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee settled 3 paise higher at 83.19.