Nifty, Sensex rise; Kotak Mahindra Bank sees best day in nearly 9 years

Indian shares edged up on Friday, recovering from sharp losses in the previous session, boosted by a report that Warren Buffett`s Berkshire Hathaway Inc might take a stake in private-sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.

Meanwhile, broader Asian shares struggled amid speculation the Federal Reserve might be "one-and-done" with U.S. rate hikes, while oil fell anew as producers bickered over the details of an output cut. 

The arrest of smartphone maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, which cast a cloud over the possibility of a trade truce between the U.S. and China, also dampened sentiment. The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.40 percent at 10,643.80 as of 0651 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex rose 0.54 percent to 35,503.56.

"In the shorter term, markets are largely driven by sentiment," said Sunil Sharma, chief investment officer with Sanctum Wealth Management. "Looking ahead, we have an accommodative RBI, a neutral Fed, low crude oil and a healthy domestic economy."

Financials accounted for over half the gains, with Kotak Mahindra Bank being the top boost and top percentage gainer on the indexes. The Nifty private bank index rose as much as 1.9 percent.

Television channel CNBC-TV18 earlier in the day reported that Berkshire Hathaway is planning to invest about $4 billion to $6 billion in the lender by either buying promoter stake or through a preferential allotment. Shares in the bank posted their biggest intraday gain since Feb. 25, 2010, rising over 14 percent.

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Meanwhile, software services firm HCL Technologies plunged after it agreed to buy some software assets from International Business Machines Corp for $1.80 billion. The company`s shares fell as much as 7.7 percent to their lowest in five months and marked their biggest single-day fall since May 3.

By: Krishna V Kurup