Mumbai/Nagpur: Indian stock markets ended 2 per cent higher on Friday, posting their biggest single-day percentage gain since October as hints of more stimulus measures from the European Central Bank lifted global markets, but still marked a third weekly fall.
The benchmark BSE Sensex surged over 473 points to close at 24,435.66. This was Sensex’s biggest single-day gain since October 5, 2015.
Sentiment also got a boost from the rupee, which rebounded from 29-month lows. It strengthened by 36 paise to 67.66 against the dollar (intra-day) at the forex market.
However, on a weekly basis, the BSE Sensex fell marginally by 19.38 points or 0.07 per cent while the broader NSE Nifty shed 15.35 points or 0.20 per cent, third in a row.
Global cues were largely positive after a hint of more monetary stimulus by the European Central Bank (ECB) to help struggling eurozone economy and crude prices rebounding from over 12-year lows to trade above USD 30 a barrel.
In the international market, Brent crude rose USD 1.52, or 5.2 per cent, to USD 30.77 a barrel.
The 30-share Sensex started off strong by opening above the 24,000-mark at 24,122.06 and continued its march to touch day’s high of 24,472.88 before ending 473.45 points or 1.98 per cent, its biggest single-day gains since October 5, at 24,435.66.
The gauge had lost 517.63 points in previous two sessions.
The 50-issue NSE Nifty after reclaiming 7,400, advanced to hit a high of 7,433.40 points, finally settling 145.65 points or 2 per cent higher at 7,422.45.
GAIL was the biggest BSE gainer with a rise of 7.99 per cent, followed by Maruti Suzuki at 5.53 per cent.
Other major gainers were Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, SBI, Coal India, Dr Reddy’s, ONGC, NTPC, Axis Bank, L&T, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma and RIL.
