On Friday, Indian markets surged to their highest level since early September, with banking and energy firms rising as concerns about the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variety faded.
The NSE Nifty 50 index ended the day up 0.38 percent at 17,812.70, while the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 0.24 percent to 59,744.65. In the previous session, both indices had dropped more than 1%.
For the week, the Nifty and the Sensex rose approximately 2.6 percent, their greatest performance since the week of Sept. 3, 2021.
Global stock markets mainly held their footing, with U.S. futures rising and Asian stock markets surging after two days of losses, boosting local morale.
Despite a lower rate of hospitalization and mortality, India reported more than 117,000 COVID-19 cases in a week, a five-fold rise.
The Nifty Bank index closed 0.67 percent higher in Mumbai, marking its sixth session of advances in the last seven. HDFC Life Insurance and ICICI Bank both saw their stock prices rise by 2.1 percent and 1%, respectively.
The Nifty energy index rose 0.89 percent, with Oil & Natural Gas Corp, India’s largest producer, surging 4.1 percent.
Oil prices rose as turmoil in Kazakhstan worsened, raising fears that petroleum supply from the OPEC producing group will be disrupted.
Reliance Industries rose 0.8 percent as oil prices rose, and its retail arm invested $200 million in online delivery platform Dunzo to acquire a foothold in the fast-growing sector of ultrafast delivery of goods.
After stockbroker Motilal Oswal upped its rating on the textile-to-chemicals company to “buy,” sending its shares up 4.5 percent, Grasim Industries also gave support, finishing as the top percentage gainer on the Nifty 50.
Hinduja Global Solutions, a business process management company, fell 20% after announcing a special dividend that fell short of expectations.
