Indian shares eked out a slightly positive finish on Friday, with the NSE closing above 10,800 points for the first time in 10 days, buoyed by gains in energy, IT and telecom sectors. The broader NSE index closed 0.13 percent firmer at 10,805.45, while the benchmark BSE index ended 0.09 percent higher at 35,962.93. NSE clocked in a weekly gain of 1.05 percent, while the BSE ended 0.81 percent firmer for the week.
The Reserve Bank of India's board held a meeting, which was headed by the new governor Shaktikanta Das, and deliberated on the central bank's governance framework and decided that the matter required further examination. Bharti Airtel Ltd closed 5.3 percent higher after a tribunal dismissed the telecom regulatory authority's order on predatory pricing.
Shares of Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd were the biggest drag on the index, ending 2 percent weaker. After the recent rally, the market is taking a breather, said Deven Choksey, founder, KR Choksey Investment Managers.
Weak data out of China, which sparked fresh worries of a slowdown in the world's second-biggest economy, kept a lid on investor spending in Asian markets. Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd's stock, down 1.5 percent, was the top drag on the NSE. Shares of IT major HCL Technologies Ltd declined the most, falling as much as 2.7 percent. Shares of Fortis Healthcare Ltd plunged 14.3 percent after CNBC-TV18 reported that India's top court put Fortis' sale to IHH Healthcare Bhd Ltd on hold.