Sensex climbs 180 points to open above 71,000; Nifty at 21,288

Benchmark equity indices began the trade on an optimistic note on Friday tracking firm global market trends.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 180.55 points to 71,045.65 in early trade. The Nifty went up by 58 points to 21,313.05.

However, both the benchmark indices faced volatile trends after early optimism but later bounced back to trade with significant gains.

Among the Sensex firms, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, NTPC, JSW Steel, Sun Pharma and Bajaj Finance were the major winners.

Infosys, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai were trading with gains while Hong Kong quoted lower.

The US markets ended in the positive territory on Thursday.

“Despite FIIs selling and concerns about the Omicron variant, optimism prevails with expected Federal Reserve rate cuts and positive sentiments on India’s growth,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.92 per cent to USD 80.12 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹1,636.19 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark jumped 358.79 points or 0.51 per cent to settle at 70,865.10 on Thursday. The Nifty rallied 104.90 points or 0.50 per cent to 21,255.05.