Equity in green amid volatile session, SBI up 11 pc

Equity benchmark indices closed higher on Friday but off the record levels of early session as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept key interest rates unchanged and maintained accommodative stance.

The BSE S&P Sensex closed 117 points or 0.23 per cent higher at 50,732 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 29 points or 0.19 per cent to 14,924.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty PSU bank jumping by 3.62 per cent and financial service by 0.7 per cent. But Nifty auto, IT and private bank were in the red.

Among stocks, government-owned State Bank of India moved up by 11.3 per cent to Rs 395.30 per share. Kotak Mahindra Bank ticked up by 4.1 per cent and HDFC Bank by 1.1 per cent.

The other major gainers were Tata Steel, Dr Reddy, Cipla, ITC and Hindustan Unilever.

However, Bharti Airtel dipped by 2.7 per cent to Rs 584.40 per share and Tata Motors skidded by 2.3 per cent. Axis Bank dropped by 3 per cent, ICICI Bank by 1.7 per cent, Tata Motors by 2.3 per cent, Maruti Suzuki by 1.8 per cent and GAIL by 1.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian shares were in the green with Japan's Nikkei gaining by 1.54 per cent. Hong Kong stocks saw the best weekly show in three months on mainland demand with Hang Seng index up by 0.6 per cent and South Korea's Kospi by 1.07 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )