Domestic equity markets opened higher on Friday, bucking the mixed global cues. The Sensex and the Nifty on Friday recovered and logged gains of about one and a half percent. Index of top 30 companies at Bombay Stock Exchange, Sensex, ended above 60,800 points. The index of top 50 companies at National Stock Exchange, closed above the 17,850 level. The Sensex climbed 910 points to finish at 60,842. The Nifty-50 also rose 244 points to finish at 17,854.
In the forex market, the rupee appreciated by 34 paise against the US currency to close at 81 rupees and 83 paise against the dollar.
At the Multi Commodity Exchange, Gold futures for February was trading at 57,668 rupees per ten grams. Silver futures for March was trading at 70,080 rupees per kilogram, when reports last came in.
Among global stock markets, Asian shares ended mixed. Singapore’s Straits Times index appreciated 0.6 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI rose half a percent and Japan’s NIKKEI-225 added 0.4 percent. On the other hand, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.4 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite index declined 0.7 percent.
Oil prices were steady today but were on track for a second week of losses as the market awaited further signs of fuel demand recovery in China and the price cap on Russian oil products. In intra-day trade, Brent crude was trading at 81 dollars and 93 cents per barrel.