Sensex, Nifty rebound; power, utility shares advance

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded on Friday to close with marginal gains due to fag-end buying in power, utility and metal stocks amid weak global trends.

After remaining in the negative territory for most part of the session, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 72.48 points or 0.11 per cent to settle at 64,904.68.

During the day, it fell 251.25 points or 0.38 per cent to 64,580.95.

The Nifty went up by 30.05 points or 0.15 per cent to 19,425.35.

Among the Sensex firms, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, ITC, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank and Power Grid were the major gainers.

On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Titan and IndusInd Bank were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,712.33 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

"Selective buying helped markets end marginally higher despite other Asian and European counterparts struggling on the back of selling pressure.

"Foreign fund outflows from the domestic market have been of concern," said Prashanth Tapse, senior VP (research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.94 per cent to $80.76 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark declined 143.41 points or 0.22 per cent to settle at 64,832.2 Thursday.

The Nifty dipped 48.20 points or 0.25 per cent to 19,395.30.

Stock exchanges will conduct a one-hour special muhurat trading session on the occasion of Diwali on November 12.

The symbolic trading session will be held between 6 pm and 7.15 pm.

This includes a 15-minute pre-market session.