IT powers Indian shares to first weekly gain in three weeks

BENGALURU: Indian shares snapped a two-week losing streak on Friday led by information technology stocks, after firm US economic data allayed fears of a recession in the world’s largest economy, boosting risk appetite globally.

The NSE Nifty 50 index ended 1.65% higher at 24,541.15 and posted 0.7% weekly gain.

The S&P BSE Sensex added 1.68% to 80,436.84 and was 0.9% higher for the week.

The Nifty posted its best session since July 26, while Sensex logged biggest single-day gain in over two months.

“Valuation concerns and US recession fears are not new to Indian markets, which are likely to demonstrate resilience on strong domestic inflows and easing US growth worries,” said Santosh Pandey, president and head of Nuvama Professional Clients Group (PCG).

All the 13 major sectors logged gains on Friday, with the IT index advancing 2.89%.