Equities trade higher, Tata Steel up 7.5 pc

Equity frontline indices closed in the green on Friday fuelled by expectation that the second Covid-19 wave will peak this month and the economy will rebound quickly.

At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 257 points or 0.52 per cent at 49,206 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 98 points or 0.67 per cent to 14,823.

Except for Nifty PSU bank, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive zone with Nifty metal up by 4.75 per cent, financial service and realty by 0.7 per cent each, and FMCG by 0.2 per cent.

Among stocks, Tata Steel moved up by 7.5 per cent to Rs 1,183.60 per share. JSW Steel was up by 3.3 per cent and Hindalco by 3.9 per cent.

Adani Ports rose by 3.2 per cent, SBI Life by 3 per cent and HDFC by 2.5 per cent. However, those which lost were Tata Consumer Products, Hero MotorCorp, Bajaj Auto and Eicher Motors.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks were mixed while traders braced for a key US jobs report later during the day that could provide clues on when the Federal Reserve will ease back on monetary stimulus.

Japan's Nikkei was up by 0.09 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped by 0.09 per cent. South Korea's Kospi advanced by 0.58 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )