Market rises for third session in a row, Sensex closes above 36,000 mark

The benchmark BSE Sensex closed at 36,076.72 mark while Nifty surged 79.10 points or 0.73 per cent to settle at 10,858.90. Major losers on the indices were Titan, Sun Pharma and Indian Oil. 

The gains on Dalal Street were led by pharma, auto, realty and financial stocks.

Stocks in Europe and Asia rose cautiously on Friday after Wall Street ended a volatile session with big gains, but fears of further price swings and worries about U.S. politics kept safe-haven currencies such as the yen and Swiss franc in demand.

European shares opened in positive territory after Thursday's 1.7 percent retreat and were up about 1.4 percent at 0920 GMT, with most bourses and sectors in the black.

They have not matched a two-day surge on U.S. indexes that saw the benchmark S&P 500 index gain 5.9 percent, its best performance since late August 2015 when the market was in the midst of a downturn over a slowing Chinese economy.

Asian stock markets also posted modest gains, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 0.8 percent.

While Wall Street's capacity to shake off an initial selloff and post one of its highest daily percentage increases has fuelled hope that some of the selling pressure is easing, investors in Europe remained wary.

"The volatility here at year-end is unlikely to be sustained, but without more encouraging signals from Washington, the markets will likely remain treacherous in the New Year," Marc Chandler at Bannockburn securities told clients.