Sensex rallies most in 19 months, Nifty ends above 10,450

NEW DELHI: Driven by fall in crude prices and the recovery in rupee, the BSE Sensex on Friday posted its biggest single-day gain in 19 months, soaring over 700 points as global markets rebounded after two straight sessions of losses.nnThe rupee strengthened 53 paise to 73.59 (intra-day) against the US dollar in the forex market.nnBoth indices ended the week higher for the first time in six weeks. During the period the Sensex climbed 366.59 points and Nifty rose 156.05 points.nnAfter opening on strong footing, the Sensex advanced to hit a high of 34,808.42 on buying momentum after retail investors returned to the market.nnIt later gave up some of the gains, but still ended notably higher by 732.43 points, or 2.15 per cent, at 34,733.58. The index posted its biggest single-day gain since March 2017.nnThe broader Nifty ended the week at 10,472.50, up 237.85 points, or 2.32 per cent. It touched a high of 10,492.45 points in day trade.nnInvestors lapped up recently-hammered auto, realty, metal, oil and gas, FMCG, banking, power, infrastructure, IT, auto, and capital goods stocks amid unabated funds inflow by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) ahead of the release of key IIP numbers for August and inflation data for September scheduled later in the day.nnBear operators, who had been creating short-positions in the past several sessions, were seen covering up positions, brokers said.nn”The whiplash in equities this week continued as market rallied strongly, driven by a good start to earnings season by IT bellwether TCS, a drop in crude oil prices, a drop in gilt bond yields and a strengthening currency,” said Sunil Sharma, Chief Investment Officer, Sanctum Wealth Management.nnMarket has been deeply oversold, and investors were additionally buoyed by news that inflows into equity… Foreign investor (FI) selling was offset by domestic buyers, he added.nnOil prices, after easing near 3 per cent in the previous two days, gained marginally Friday. Brent was up 1.16 per cent to USD 81.19 a barrel.nnDomestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases worth a net of Rs 1,888 crore Thursday, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares to tune of Rs 2,869 crore provisional data showed.nnSource: Press Trust of India