Sensex surges by 228 points on hopes on stimulus package, Nifty above 10,800

The bulls staged a comeback during second half of equity trading session on Friday amid expectations that the government may soon announce steps to revive economic growth.

The BSE S&P Sensex closed 228 points or 0.6% higher at 36,701, while the Nifty 50 was up by 88 points or 0.8% to 10,829.

Except for FMCG and private banks, all sectoral indices were in the green at the National Stock Exchange. Nifty media gained by 4.1%, metal by 3.4%, PSU banks by 2% and pharma by 1.4%.

Among stocks, Zee Entertainment was up by 6.5% to close at Rs 350.50 per share. UPL gained by 6.1%, Vedanta by 5.7%, Yes Bank by 5.6% and Bharat Petroleum Corporation by 5.2%.

Heavyweight Reliance Industries gained by 2.36% to close at Rs 1,275.95 per share. The other prominent gainers were ONGC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Grasim, Indian Oil Corporation and Coal India.

However, private lenders like IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra were among the losers. ITC, Eicher Motors, Power Grid and Hindustan Lever also shed gains marginally.

Meanwhile, Asian shares struggled to make headway as uncertainty continued over how much the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.1% higher. Japan's benchmark Nikkei added 0.4% while Shanghai Composite Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.5% each.