Sensex, Nifty rebound on gains in FMCG, auto shares; snap 4 days of decline

Benchmark BSE Sensex rebounded by 344 points while Nifty closed above the 16,000 level in choppy trade on Friday, snapping four days of decline on buying in FMCG, auto, and capital goods counters. The 30-share BSE barometer climbed 344.63 points or 0.65 percent to settle at 53,760.78 as 18 of its scrips ended in the green.

Benchmark BSE Sensex rebounded by 344 points while Nifty closed above the 16,000 level in choppy trade on Friday, snapping four days of decline on buying in FMCG, auto, and capital goods counters.

The 30-share BSE barometer climbed 344.63 points or 0.65 percent to settle at 53,760.78 as 18 of its scrips ended in the green. During the day, it jumped 395.22 points, or 0.73 percent to a high of 53,811.37.

The broader NSE Nifty closed above the 16,000 level by gaining 110.55 points or 0.69 percent to 16,049.20 as 35 of its constituents closed with gains.

Benchmark stock indices remained volatile but managed to close with modest gains on value-buying in FMCG, auto, capital goods, and select banking counters in the last hour of the trade. A positive opening of European markets and foreign investors turning net buyers in capital markets boosted the sentiment. Among Sensex constituents, Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Maruti, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nestle, and Bharti Airtel were the major gainers.

Tata Steel, Power Grid, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Dr. Reddy's, and Axis Bank were the laggards.

''Volatility has re-emerged and investors have turned their focus on upcoming Fed policy in the backdrop of heightened US inflation. Fall in crude prices and reduction in FII selling added optimism to the domestic market while gloomy IT results, depreciating rupee and fear of global recession are restricting sizeable up move,'' said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 0.84 percent, and smallcap index climbed 0.52 percent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, auto jumped 2.34 percent, followed by consumer durables (1.56 percent), FMCG (1.48 percent), capital goods (1.47 percent), telecom (1.35 percent), and consumer discretionary goods (1.32 percent).

IT, utilities, metal, and power were the laggards.

On weekly basis, Sensex dropped by 721 points or 1.32 percent while Nifty declined by 171 points or 1.11 percent.

In Asia, markets in Seoul and Tokyo ended in the green, while Shanghai and Hong Kong settled significantly after China's economy contracted by 2.6 percent in the second quarter. Markets in Europe were trading in the green during mid-session deals. The US markets had ended on a mixed note on Thursday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude rose by 0.60 percent to USD 99.72 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors turned net buyers in the capital market on Thursday, buying shares worth Rs 309.06 crore, as per exchange data.