Markets recoup early losses; Sensex jumps 243 pts, Nifty tops 9,950

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Equity benchmark Sensex rebounded from a sharp selloff in early trade to finish 243 points higher on Friday, led by strong gains in Reliance Industries and a rebound in European markets. After plunging 1,190.27 points to hit a low of 32,348.10 in opening trade, the 30-share index settled 242.52 points, or 0.72 per cent, higher at 33,780.89.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty rose 70.90 points, or 0.72 per cent, to end at 9,972.90. It hit an intra-day low of 9,544.35. M&M was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 7 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Hero MotoCorp, Reliance Industries (RIL), Titan and Bajaj Auto.

On the other hand, ONGC, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid, Infosys and Kotak Bank were among the laggards.

According to analysts, market witnessed a gap-down opening on negative cues from Wall Street and Asian peers, foreign fund outflows and concerns over rising coronavirus cases.

However, recovery in RIL and strong opening of European stocks lifted domestic investor sentiment.

Bourses in Paris, Frankfurt and London rallied up to 2 per cent in early deals.

On the other hand, exchanges in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul finished up to 2 per cent lower following a rout on Wall Street.

International oil benchmark Brent crude futures inched up 0.83 per cent to USD 38.86 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases across the world crossed 75 lakh and the death toll has topped 4.21 lakh.

In India, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 8,498 and the number of infections rose to 2.97 lakh, according to the health ministry.