Bourses extend gains to 2nd day on buying in metal & telecom stocks

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty advanced for the second straight session on Friday, powered by buying in metal and telecom stocks.

After swinging between gains and losses for most of the session, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 223.86 points, or 0.28 per cent, to settle at 81,207.17.

The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 57.95 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 24,894.25.

From the Sensex firms, Tata Steel climbed the most by 3.40 per cent, followed by Power Grid, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Electronics and Bharti Airtel. In contrast, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, UltraTech Cement and Bajaj Finserv were among the major laggards.

The BSE smallcap gauge jumped 1.09 per cent, and the midcap index went up by 0.78 per cent. The rupee depreciated 8 paise to close at 88.79 against the US dollar on Friday, near its all-time low level, on dollar demand from importers & foreign fund outflows.