Markets bounce back after falling in opening trade on fresh foreign fund inflows

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened on a negative note on Friday but soon recovered the lost ground and were trading with gains as fresh foreign fund inflows supported investors' sentiments.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 252.8 points to 76,095.26 in early trade. The NSE Nifty dropped 57.85 points to 23,132.80.

However, later both the benchmark indices recovered all the early lost ground and were trading higher. The BSE benchmark gauge traded 205.09 points higher at 76,550.97, and the Nifty quoted 70.05 points up at 23,262.55.

From the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC, Maruti, Power Grid, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.

However, Infosys, Titan, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints and Zomato were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Tokyo were quoting in the positive territory while Shanghai and Hong Kong traded lower.

US markets ended marginally lower on Thursday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,239.14 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

"The rally in the market this week which saw the Nifty rise by 3.5 per cent has come at a time when trade tensions are escalating and more is expected when the reciprocal tariffs kick in on April 2. The main driver of the rally is the buying by FIIs in the cash market in two days," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.43 per cent to USD 72.31 a barrel.

On Thursday, the BSE benchmark jumped 899.01 points or 1.19 per cent to settle at 76,348.06, regaining the 76,000 level. The Nifty surged 283.05 points or 1.24 per cent to reclaim the 23,000-mark to settle at 23,190.65.