Nifty50

Initially, the two indices opened gap down in line with other Asian markets, however, it later made a recovery only to cede its gains during the late trade session. Besides, volumes on the NSE were below recent average. Amongst sectoral indices, bank index was the sole gainer whereas power, oil & gas, metals and healthcare indices lost the most.

After declining in early trade, key indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- rose in the afternoon on Friday primarily due to value buying, said analysts. Geo-strategic tensions between Ukraine and Russia had weighed on the indices in the recent sessions, which led to heavy sell-off by foreign institutional investors.

Accordingly, indices closed lower for the third consecutive session amidst uncertainties on the way ahead for the Russia-Ukraine conflict.Besides, the FIIs were net sellers on BSE, NSE & MSEI in the capital market segment. They net sold Rs 2,529.96 crore worth of equities.On Thursday, they had sold Rs 1,242.10 crore worth of equities.

India's key indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- declined marginally in early trade on Friday. At 09.54 a.m., Sensex traded at 57,709 points, down 0.3 per cent or 183 points, whereas Nifty traded 17,259 points, down 0.3 per cent or 46 points.

The upward movement comes a day after a sharp correction took place on the back of heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Accordingly, on Tuesday attractive stock valuations brought a healthy influx of domestic institutional as well as retail funds into the market. In the initial trade, both the indices had a gap up opening.

Accordingly, the two indices witnessed their sharpest percentage fall in 10 months. In the initial part of trading, east Asian stocks slid and commodities, including crude oil, surged as geopolitical risks over Ukraine rippled through global markets. The Brent-indexed Crude oil prices crossed $96 per barrel, the highest in seven years. Notably, Russia is one of the world's top producers of Crude oil.

Besides, the growth-oriented accommodative stance was retained to give a push to economic activity. Initially, indices opened with a marginal up-gap, but fell soon thereafter to make an intra day low. They later rose after the RBI's announcement. Globally, a tech-fuelled global stocks rally cooled in Asia on Thursday as investors took a more cautious posture amid uncertainties around the outlook for inflation and interest rates.

The RBI keeping the repo rate unchanged in its latest monetary policy meeting and maintained an accommodative stance going ahead supported the broader market indices. The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) maintained the repo rate, or short-term lending rate, for commercial banks, at 4 per cent and stance accommodative to give a push to economic activity.

Sensex settled at 58,466 points, up 1.1 per cent or 657 points from the previous close. Nifty settled at 17,464 points, up 1.1 per cent or 197 points from its previous close. Barring Nifty PSU bank and oil & gas, all sectoral indices traded in the green on Wednesday.

At 9.34 a.m., Sensex traded at 58,318 points, up 0.9 per cent or 510 points from the previous close of 57,809 points. It opened at 58,163 points. Nifty traded at 17,415 points, up 0.9 per cent or 148 points from the previous close of 17,267 points. It opened at 17,370 points.