Mumbai– The Sensex took a sharp u-turn during Friday afternoon trade gaining over 500 points from its intra-day low on reports of possible government intervention to arrest the prolonged fall in markets.
The highly volatile trade session saw the Sensex closing with a 100-point gain at 37,118.22 before it fell to 36,607.41 on a surprise move by the US to levy additional tariffs on Chinese goods overnight.
According to reports, officials of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Finance Ministry met to discuss the controversial super-rich tax proposed in last month’s Union Budget, which has since caused an exodus of Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPIs).
Consequently, the benchmark Sensex closed 100 points higher at 37,118.22, while the broader Nifty settled 17.35 points higher at 10,997.35.
“Benchmark indices bounced back in afternoon trade after media reports suggested that Prime Minister’s Office and Finance Ministry top bureaucrats were in talks over foreign portfolio investor (FPI) surcharge issue,” Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities said.
Besides, State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday reported a consolidated net profit for the quarter at Rs 2,950.50 crore, versus a loss of Rs 4,230.44 crore a year ago.
The state-run lenders provisions and contingencies dropped 51.54 per cent to Rs 9,448.71 crore in the quarter, from Rs 19,499.21 crore a year ago.
Most Asian markets fell on Friday after US President Donald Trump vowed to levy 10 per cent tariff on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, sparking fears of an escalation in the prolonged trade row.
European stocks posted their biggest drop of 2019 on Friday, while German bond yields hit record lows, after the US President fired his latest salvo in the trade war with China. (IANS)
