Sensex surges 879 points, Nifty reclaims 22,500 in sharp Friday rebound

Indian benchmarks staged a powerful rebound on Friday after Thursday’s steep selloff. The Sensex jumped 879.09 points, or 1.23%, to close at 72,472.33, while the Nifty 50 gained 288.65 points, or 1.30%, to settle at 22,520.45 — reclaiming the 22,500 mark.

IT stocks led the recovery: the Nifty IT index climbed 3% after TCS’s strong September-quarter results, with TCS up 3.8%, HCL Technologies 3.4% and Infosys 2.6%. FMCG and public-sector bank stocks also advanced, and every major sectoral index ended in the green.

The rebound came as investors bought beaten-down shares after Thursday’s rout, which had pushed the indices to multi-month lows. Concerns remain, though: crude hovered near $104 a barrel, foreign investors kept selling, and the RBI’s hawkish rate hike to 5.50% earlier in the week still overhangs sentiment.

The rupee strengthened 16 paise to close at 96.72 against the US dollar on Friday, helped by a softer dollar, easing oil prices and hints of central-bank support.