Markets rebound on buying in IT stocks; Sensex jumps 726 points

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices staged a smart recovery and were trading higher during the afternoon trade on Friday amid buying in IT stocks and firm trends in Asian markets.

Recovering all the early lost ground, the BSE Sensex jumped 726.16 points to 83,223.26 during the afternoon trade. The NSE Nifty also climbed 203.3 points to 25,453.40.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services were among the gainers.

Nestle, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance and Asian Paints were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong were trading in the positive territory. Markets in mainland China are closed due to a holiday.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 15,243.27 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.06 per cent to USD 77.57 a barrel.

Falling for the fourth straight session on Thursday, the BSE benchmark tumbled 1,769.19 points or 2.10 per cent to settle at 82,497.10. During the day, it plummeted 1,832.27 points or 2.17 per cent to 82,434.02.

The Nifty slumped 546.80 points or 2.12 per cent to 25,250.10.