Indian shares edge up in volatile trade; Future Group firms slide

BENGALURU: Indian shares recovered from early falls to trade slightly higher on Friday in a volatile session, as a pullback in US Treasury yields from 14-month highs hit overnight eased some fears over foreign fund outflows from emerging markets.

By 0554 GMT, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.17% to 14,582.65 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.23% to 49,327.90.

Earlier in the session, the Sensex and Nifty shed up to 1.43% and 1.28%, respectively.

"There is some easing in US 10-year bond yields after hitting a peak. That has added to the risk appetite of traders who were looking to buy into the dips," said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services in Kochi.

"From a technical perspective, the Nifty found some support at the 14,500 level," said Amit Shah, head of India equities at BNP Paribas India in Mumbai.

A surge in domestic cases of COVID-19 has also weighed on investor sentiment this week. India reported 39,276 cases on Friday, its highest daily rise since late November.

India's main stock indexes were on track to post a drop of roughly 3% for the week after two straight weeks of gains. As of Thursday's close, both the Nifty and Sensex were off roughly 5% from their record closing highs hit in mid-February.

Among individual stocks, Future Group companies, including Future Retail and Future Consumer, dropped nearly 10% each.

An Indian court on Thursday restrained Future Group chief Kishore Biyani from selling his personal assets following Amazon.com Inc's challenge against the Indian group's $3.4 billion sale of its retail business to Reliance Industries .