The Indian market rose sharply on Friday, outperforming regional peers, as selective buying in index heavyweights following robust results from engineering & construction giant Larsen & Toubro and softer food inflation data released a day before soothed to a certain extent worries about inflation and rising interest rates.
Also,weaker U.S. economic data on manufacturing activity and housing starts and the anticipation that the Federal Reserve will maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy for a while cemented expectations for further fund inflows into emerging markets such as India.
The benchmark 30-share Sensex closed up 185 points or 1.02 percent at 18,326, with 27 of its components advancing. The broader 50-share Nifty index rose by 58 points or 1.07 percent to 5,486, while the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes ended up about half a percent each. Capital goods, auto, healthcare, power and realty stocks led the gainers while FMCG stocks slipped on profit taking.
Engineering & construction giant Larsen & Toubro led the gainers in the Sensex pack with a 3.6 percent gain. Bharti Airtel, HDFC, DLF, Reliance Infrastructure, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and Cipla rose by 2- 3 percent.
ICICI Bank advanced 1.3 percent after the private sector lender raised $1 billion by issuing bonds in overseas markets. Tata Power added 1.7 percent on posting a better-than-expected 6 percent rise in quarterly earnings.
Mahindra & Mahindra rose a little over 2 percent on the buzz that it may buy Scooters India after the government agreed to divest its entire stake in the sick firm. Shares of the latter were locked at the 5 percent upper circuit limit.
Voltas climbed 6.70 percent after the company's FY11 earnings beat market estimates. Ashok Leyland soared 5.3 percent after reporting a 34 percent rise in quarterly earnings. GVK Power & Infrastructure edged up 0.7 percent amid reports that it is in talks to buy two Australian coal mines.
Crompton Greaves rallied 3.9 percent after the electrical equipment maker bought Sweden-based Emotron Group for 57.8 million euros. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemical jumped 4.6 percent after it more than doubled its fourth-quarter net profit on higher refining margins.
Wockhardt jumped 5.7 percent after gains from foreign exchange fluctuations and the launch of new products helped the drugmaker report a fourth quarter net profit of Rs.161 crore versus a Rs.565-crore loss in the year-ago period.
Diversified business conglomerate ITC fell 1.8 percent on profit taking after reporting fourth-quarter results. State-run explorer ONGC fell 1.2 percent on concerns that it will have to share additional subsidy burden. Coal India lost 2.8 percent after the company said it would refrain from raising coal prices. State-run SBI ended down 0.2 percent on the back of disappointing fourth-quarter earnings.
Elsewhere, the other Asian markets closed on a mixed note Friday, as positive U.S. cues and a rebound in copper and oil prices failed to offset worries about growth and earnings. European shares rose for a third day, with oil and gas stocks leading the gainers after BP said it has reached an agreement with MOEX Offshore over the Deepwater Horizon incident.
The Dow futures were little changed while crude prices rose above $99 a barrel, helped by a weaker dollar and positive sentiment in the equity markets.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.