Stock Market Update: Sensex on Friday rose to 257.41 points to 65888.98 in early trade whereas Nifty advanced 78.25 points to 19,624.

Benchmark equity indices gained in early trade, extending their previous day’s rally, ahead of the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy review. Firm trends in Asian markets also bolstered the investors’ sentiment.

Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel, Maruti, Tata Motors and IndusInd Bank were among the major gainers in the Sensex pack.

Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel and Power Grid were the laggards. In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the positive territory while Tokyo quoted lower. The US markets ended marginally lower on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.33 per cent to USD 84.35 a barrel.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy review is unlikely to impact the markets since no changes are expected in policy rates or stance.

From the market perspective, the more important thing will be the US jobs data expected tonight, he added.

The BSE benchmark had climbed 405.53 points or 0.62 per cent to settle at 65,631.57 points on Thursday. The Nifty had advanced 109.65 points or 0.

56 per cent to end at 19,545.75 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,864.20 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

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