MUMBAI: Strong foreign fund buying supported by speculators’ short covering late in the session on Friday led to a four-figure points jump in the Sensex. After opening marginally higher, the benchmark picked up gains through the session to close 1,046 points or 1.3 per cent higher above the 82,400-point mark. On the NSE, Nifty too followed a similar trend and closed 244 points or 1 per cent higher at 25,038 points.Foreign investors, after showing mixed trends for the last few sessions, turned strong buyers on Friday with a net inflow of Rs 7,704 crore. Domestic funds, on the other hand, were net sellers at Rs 3,050 crore, BSE data showed.According to Prashanth Tapse of Mehta Equities, markets witnessed consolidation after the recent spell of subdued trend, as strong European cues and positive Dow Futures triggered a massive rally in local benchmarks. “Investors also resorted to short covering ahead of next week’s monthly derivatives expiry.”
Tapse, despite Friday’s gains, is cautious about the market direction since a number of headwinds have a chance of impeding the northward run. Investors should remain cautious due to the ongoing West Asia conflict, as any spike in crude oil prices owing to escalation in tension could fuel uncertainty and spook markets, he said.Late on Friday, Brent crude was trading at about $76.7/barrel while WTI crude was slightly above the $75 mark. Both were trading around their four-month high levels.The day’s session in the domestic market made investors richer by nearly Rs 5 lakh crore, with BSE’s market capitalisation now at Rs 447.7 lakh crore.