Indian equities rise on value buying

Mumbai, Dec 23: Indian equity markets were lifted by value buying during the mid-afternoon trade session on Friday.

The key indices traded in the green, as healthy buying was witnessed in capital goods, consumer durables and oil and gas stocks.

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 25.50 points or 0.32 per cent to 8,004.60 points.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 25,959.99 points, traded at 26,097.53 points (at 1.45 p.m.) -- up 117.93 points or 0.45 per cent from the previous close at 26,242.38 points.

The Sensex has touched a high of 26,143.19 points and a low of 25,872.38 points during the intra-day trade so far.

The BSE market breadth was tilted in favour of the bulls -- with 1,282 advances and 984 declines.

"The Nifty is juggling between positive and negative territory but after four continuous days of selling this week, some buying is seen in Nifty weightage stocks," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.

"Some relief rally is being seen but we believe in spite of this, lower levels will eventually be seen in market. Banking, financials and infra stocks have led some gains today in the market.

On Thursday, both the Sensex and the Nifty had closed below their psychologically important marks of 26,000 points and 8,000 points, respectively.

The barometer index had closed lower by 65.60 points or 0.25 per cent at 25,979.60 points, while the NSE Nifty declined by 82.20 points or 1.02 per cent to 7,979.10 points.