Sensex snaps two-day losing streak led by ICICI Bank, SBI

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their two-day losing streak on Friday led by gains in ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and Sun Pharma. For most part of the day, benchmarks traded in a narrow band but moved out of the range in late noon deals. The Sensex ended 167 points higher at 71,595 and Nifty 50 index advanced 65 points to close at 21,782.

"After a volatile session, the market ended on a positive note, aided by a rebound in banking stocks after yesterday’s sell-off. Mid- and small-cap indices bled the most as the sentiment on the broader indices remains vigilant due to their rich valuation. Caution prevails in the market ahead of the release of US, UK, and Indian inflation data next week, while the US 10 yr yield is inching higher," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

Meanwhile, European shares were trading flat on Friday, as gains in healthcare stocks and video games group Ubisoft were offset by a rise in government bond yields following a pullback in aggressive bets on early interest-rate cuts.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was unchanged at 485.12 point.

Back home, eight of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by Nifty Bank index's 1.4 per cent gain. Nifty Financial Services, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Pharma and Healthcare indices also rose around 1 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares witnessed selling pressure on account of profit booking as analysts pointed at sky high valuations some shares in mid and smallcap space are trading at. Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped 1.4 per cent and Nifty Midcap 100 index declined 0.9 per cent.

Grasim Industries was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 6 per cent to hit 52-week high of Rs 2,182 after the Aditya Birla Group-company's standalone net profit fell more than 8 per cent from a year earlier to Rs 236 crore in the three months ended December 31, but stayed above analysts' expectations of Rs 219 crore. This was Grasim's sixth consecutive quarter of a profit decline.

State Bank of India, Apollo Hospitals, ICICI Bank, Adani Ports, Hero MotoCorp, Britannia, Axis Bank, Cipla, Adani Enterprises and Nestle India also rose between 1.2-3.7 per cent.

On the flipside, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, ONGC, Tata Steel, Hindalco, Infosys, JSW Steel, SBI Life and Power grid were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,519 shares ended lower while 1,316 closed higher on the BSE.