Markets rebound after early losses; Sensex ends 243 points higher, Nifty closes at 9,973

Equity benchmark Sensex recovered over 1,400 points from the day's lowest to close 242.52 higher on a highly-volatile day on Friday after a sharp selloff in early trade. 

After plunging 1,190.27 points to hit a low of 32,348.10, Sensex rebounded to settle 242.52 points, or 0.72%, higher at 33,780.89.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty rose 70.90 points, or 0.72%, to close at 9,972.90 after hitting an intra-day low of 9,544.35.

The gains in the Sensex pack was led by M&M, Bajaj Finance, Hero Motocorp and HDFC twins. ONGC, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid, Infosys, Kotak Bank and TCS were among laggards. 

In the Nifty pack, ZEEL, ONGC, Tech Mahindra and PowerGrid were among the laggards while M&M, Infratel, Bajaj Finance, Hero Motocorp were the top gainers.

According to experts, the market witnessed a sharp fall in the opening session due to the negative cues from Wall Street and rising coronavirus cases in India. 

Global investors sentiments were hit after the US Federal Reserve on Thursday indicated that the US economy will shrink 6.5% in 2020 and the unemployment rate will be 9.3% at year's end. 

The number of coronavirus cases across the world has crossed 75 lakh and the death toll has topped 4.21 lakh. India on Friday recorded the sharpest one-day spike in coronavirus cases with the tally rising to 2.97 lakh while the death toll jumping to 8,498.