Sensex Surges Over 150 Points, Nifty Hits 10,650

The key equity benchmarks opened in the green on Friday. The S&P BSE Sensex started at 35,494.86 and the Nifty50 barometer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at 10,644.80. At 9:17 am, the 30-share Sensex traded at 35,477.34, up 165.21 points or 0.47 per cent and the Nifty50 was at 10,651.20, with a gain of 50.05 points or 0.47 per cent.

Forty four out of 50 Nifty stocks were in the green.

Trading between 1.41-1.99 per cent, Yes Bank, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, and Vedanta were the top Nifty gainers.

Asian shares fought to sustain the slimmest of recoveries amid speculation the US Federal Reserve might be "one-and-done" with rate hikes, while oil fell anew as producers bickered over the details of an output cut.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan nudged up 0.4 per cent, though that followed a 1.8 per cent drubbing on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei added 0.2 per cent and Chinese blue chips 0.3 per cent.

International Brent crude oil futures fell below $60 per barrel early in the session, trading at $59.50 per barrel at 0144 GMT or 0r 7:14 am IST, down 56 cents, or 0.9 per cent from their last close.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $51.24 per barrel, down 25 cents, or 0.5 per cent.

On Thursday, the Sensex had closed at 35,312 and the Nifty50 at 10,601.