​Stock markets rebound ending 2-day losing streak on buying in IT firms; Sensex jumps 331 pts

MUMBAI: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded on Friday after two days of losses and ended higher, tracking buying in blue-chip IT stocks and a rally in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 330.92 points, or 0.43 per cent, to settle at 77,264.51. During the day, it jumped 424.38 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 77,357.97.

The 50-share NSE Nifty settled 84.80 points, or 0.35 per cent, higher at 24,175.65.

Among the 30 Sensex firms, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Titan and Eternal were the major winners.

ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints and ITC were among the laggards.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dipped 0.17 per cent to USD 89.63 per barrel.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Shanghai's SSE Composite index ended lower, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index settled higher.

Markets in Europe were trading in positive territory.

US markets ended higher on Thursday.

"Strong gains in IT stocks helped Indian equities close higher today. The sector was supported by Nvidia's strong earnings and upbeat outlook, which reinforced optimism around sustained AI-related investments and benefited firms involved in enterprise AI deployment and workflow integration.

"However, investor participation remained selective as markets awaited comments from the Fed Chair at the Jackson Hole symposium for greater clarity on the US interest-rate outlook and global liquidity conditions," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 298.26 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Falling for the second day on Thursday, the Sensex dropped 539.35 points, or 0.70 per cent, to settle at the day's low of 76,933.59 on the monthly derivatives-expiry day. Similarly, the Nifty declined 116.90 points, or 0.48 per cent, to end at the day's low of 24,090.85.