Bangalore: Even as Indian equities came under heavy selling pressure and volatility Friday, resulting in a key index closing 163 points lower, retail stocks soared on the back of a government decision on foreign equity the evening before. The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened lower at 15,781.25 points, and a late selling spree resulted in the index closing 163 points or 1.03 percent lower than the previous close at 15,858.49 points. But retail stocks bucked the trend, opening on a strong note on the back of the cabinet decision to open up the sector further with up to 51 percent foreign equity in multi-brand format and 100 percent in single brand stores. At the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Kishore Biyani-promoted Pantaloon Retail's scrip soared by 18.94 percent to touch an intra-day high of 238.60. It ended the day's trade at 234.05, up 16.67 percent from Thursday's close. Vishal Retail's stock shot up 19.89 percent and touched the upper circuit in morning trade at 22.60. The stock closed the day at the same levels. Analysts said the move to allow foreign equity will bring much cheer to Indian firms in the sector, which are heavily in debt, preventing any meaningful inflow of capital for expansion. Retail major Shoppers Stop rose by 14.65 percent to touch an intra-day high of 426.80. The scrip closed with a gain of 6.29 percent at 395.65. Scrip of Koutons Retail gained 17.51 percent to touch an intra-day high of 25.50, before closing the day's trade at 23.90, up 10.14 percent from Thursday's close. Another firm, Celebrity Fashion, a penny stock, too moved up sharply, gaining 19.43 percent to close at 5.90. Shares of Provogue, Store One Retail, Archies and Cantabil also closed higher over the previous day's close.