Indian shares rose 1.1 per cent on Friday as state-owned lenders such as State Bank of India recovered from recent sharp losses, but the key indexes were still headed for a fourth weekly loss in five, highlighting fragile investor sentiment.
The broader NSE index ended higher by 85.1 points or 1.15 per cent at 7,489.10, posting a second consecutive daily gain, but lost 1 per cent on the week.
The benchmark BSE index surged 278.54 points or 1.14 per cent to 24,616.97, but posted a 1 per cent weekly loss.
Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index was the star-performer and was up 3.37 per cent, followed by healthcare 3.37 per cent, banking 2.11 per cent and auto 1.6 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Lupin (+9.04%), Axis Bank (+4.4%), Cipla (+3.58%), Tata Steel (+3.47%) and Tata Motors (+3.47%), while the major losers were GAIL (-3.62%), Maruti (-1.86%), Adani Ports (-1.58%), NTPC (-1.03%) and Infosys (-0.42%).
Public sector banks were among the leading gainers after recent falls. SBI rose 3.3 per cent after falling 12.1 per cent over the last five trading sessions.
PNB has risen more than 5 per cent in the past three trading sessions after falling more than 22 per cent this year.
Tata Power gained as much as 2.46 per cent on optimism about its earnings due out later in the day. StarMine Smart Estimates suggest net income may beat consensus.
Metal stocks such as Tata Steel and Jindal Steel gained after CNBC-TV 18 reported the government was likely to set minimum import price on steel imports, citing unidentified sources.
The NSE index was down 1.3 per cent for the week after a fall in crude prices hit sentiment and after the central bank kept interest rates unchanged on Tuesday.
But traders said they looked forward to a week-long holiday in China next week, given that it removes a potential source of selling pressure. Worries about the world's second largest economy have hit global markets this year.
"We were deeply oversold," said Hemen Kapadia, senior vice-president, K R Choksey Securities.
"China on holiday next week aids sentiment."
European shares were little changed in choppy trade on Friday with investors reluctant to take up big positions before a key US jobs report that could provide clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook.
Asian equities were subdued on Friday and the dollar wobbled ahead of the closely watched US jobs report, which could provide clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook.
A report by SMC Global said: "Asian stocks fell with the regional benchmark index heading for a weekly loss, after Japanese shares declined as the strengthening yen pressured major exporters. US stocks rose Thursday as investors retreated from bets against some of the year's most beaten down sectors. US factory orders tumbled by 2.9 per cent in December after falling by 0.7 per cent in November. Economists had expected orders to slump by 2.8 per cent. The decrease in factory orders was largely due to the steep drop in durable goods orders, which plummeted by 5.0 per cent in December following a 0.5 per cent decline in November."