Sensex Soars 154 Points as Feb F&O Series Takes Off In Style


MUMBAI: The benchmark BSE Sensex rallied about 154 points to 24,623.56 in early session on Friday on fresh buying push from investors as the February derivatives series was off to a solid start amid positive Asian cues.

The 30-share Sensex, which lost 22.82 points in the previous choppy session, recouped 153.99 points, or 0.62 percent, at 24,623.56.

Except banking, all sectoral indices of BSE led by consumer durables, metal and oil and gas were in the positive zone, rising by up to 1.85 percent.

The NSE Nifty jumped 54.35 points, or 0.73 percent, to 7,479.

Brokers said build-up of bets following the beginning of the February futures and options (F&O) series led to the rebound.

A firming trend at other Asian markets led by Japan after the Bank of Japan surprised markets by announcing a negative interest rate policy buoyed sentiment here too, they said.

However, shares of ICICI Bank and Maruti Suzuki fell 3.86 percent 1.72 percent, respectively, dragged down by muted third quarter earnings announced after trading hours on Thursday.

Japan's Nikkei climbed 3.21 percent, Shanghai Composite rose 2 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 2.05 percent in early trade.

The U.S. markets ended 0.79 percent higher in yesterday's trade on higher oil prices and strong corporate earnings.

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Source: PTI