Sensex Surges Over 600 Points, Nifty Above 14,750 Led By ITC

Shares recovered from early falls to trade slightly higher on Friday in a volatile session, as a pullback in U.S. Treasury yields from 14-month highs hit overnight eased some fears over foreign fund outflows from emerging markets. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was up 1.45 per cent to 14,769.10 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 1.44 per cent to 49,924.45 Earlier in the session, the Sensex and Nifty shed up to 1.43 per cent and 1.28 per cent, respectively. "There is some easing in U.S. 10-year bond yields after hitting a peak. That has added to the risk appetite of traders who were looking to buy into the dips," said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services in Kochi.         

"From a technical perspective, the Nifty found some support at the 14,500 level," said Amit Shah, head of India equities at BNP Paribas India in Mumbai. A surge in domestic cases of COVID-19 has also weighed on investor sentiment this week. India reported 39,276 cases on Friday, its highest daily rise since late November.

Main stock indexes were on track to post a drop of roughly three per cent for the week after two straight weeks of gains. As of Thursday's close, both the Nifty and Sensex were off roughly 5% from their record closing highs hit in mid-February.

Among individual stocks, Future Group companies, including Future Retail and Future Consumer, dropped nearly 10 per cent each. The court on Thursday restrained Future Group chief Kishore Biyani from selling his personal assets following Amazon.com Inc's challenge against the Indian group's $3.4 billion sale of its retail business to Reliance Industries.