Stocks advance in volatile trade on value buying

The benchmark BSE Sensex regained the 33,000-mark by recovering almost 176 points in opening trade today on value-buying by domestic investors in recently battered stocks.

The 30-share index gained 175.53 points or 0.53 per cent higher at 33,008.47 with sectoral indices led by IT, teck and healthcare trading in the positive zone.

The gauge had tanked 891.50 points in the previous four sessions. The National Stock Exchange's Nifty too was trading higher 57.40 points or 0.56 per cent at 10,179.20. Brokers said fresh spell of buying by domestic investors in recent beaten down stocks helped the key indices to trade in the positive zone after four days of losses.

Foreign funds bought shares worth Rs 306.11 crore on Friday, according to the provisional data. Major gainers that supported the recovery include Tata Motors, Infosys, ONGC, Tata Steel, Dr Reddy's,Bharti Airtel, HDFC Ltd, SBI and ICICI Bank, rising by up to 2.10 per cent. In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.20 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.10 per cent intheir early deals. Hong Kong's Hang Seng too up 0.72 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, ended 0.17 per cent lower on Friday.

Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)