After an early setback due to a sell-off in the technology sector following Accenture\'s weak revenue guidance, Indian shares recovered and stayed fairly steady on Friday to eventually end the day\'s session modestly higher.
Optimism about interest rate cuts by central banks continued to help underpin sentiment.
The BSE benchmark Sensex, which fell nearly 470 points to 72,172.09 in early trades, rallied to 73,115.62 before settling at 72,831.94 with a gain of 190.75 points or 0.26%. The broader Nifty50 index of the National Stock Exchange, which climbed to 22,180.70 from an early low of 21,883.30, ended with a gain of 84.80 points or 0.39% at 22,096.75.
Automobile, pharmaceuticals, realty, metal and PSU bank stocks posted strong gains, while technology stocks ended weak.
Hero MotoCorp gained nearly 4%. Maruti Suzuki rallied 3.3%, Bajaj Auto gained 2.35%, Eicher Motors climbed 1.8% and Tata Motors ended higher by about 1.5%. Mahindra & Mahindra ended modestly higher.
Among pharma stocks, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained 3.25%. Cipla, IPCA Laboratories, Dr Reddy\'s Laboratories and Biocon advanced 1 to 2%.
Metal stocks Welcorp, JSL, National Aluminium, Jindal Stel, Hindlco and Adani Enterprises gained 1 to 2%. JSW Steel, SAIL and Tata Steel also posted notable gains.
Among realty stocks, Prestige gained nearly 5%. Sobha, Brigade Enterprises and Lodha moved up by 4%, 3.3% and 2.8%, respectively.
PSU bank stocks Punjab & Sind Bank and Central Bank of India gained 4.5% and 2.25%, respectively. IOB, Bank of Baroda, Maharashtra Bank, PNB, Canara Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of India and Union Bank of India also ended notably
Technology stocks MindTree, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Mphasis lost 2 to 3%. Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and L&T Technology Services also declined sharply.
The market breadth was strong. On BSE, 2,430 stocks closed higher, and 1,375 stocks ended weak, while 101 stocks settled roughly flat.