Sensex zooms over 200 pts, Nifty above 7350; InterGlobe down 4%

Moneycontrol Bureau9:55 am FII view: Christopher Wood, CLSA says Greed & Fear far prefers India to China as a structural story since credit growth in India has been running more in-line with nominal GDP growth reflecting a healthy deleveraging cycle.

India bank credit growth slowed to 8.8 percent Y-o-Y in October before accelerating to 11 percent Y-o-Y in December, while nominal GDP growth slowed from 13.4 percent Y-o-Y in Q2FY14 to 6 percent Y-o-Y in Q3FY15.

9:45 am Result: Bangalore-based pharma company Biocon's third quarter profit increased 13.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 103 crore, supported by operational performance and other income but R&D expenses and slow revenue growth limited growth.

Revenue rose 8.7 percent to Rs 836.4 crore in quarter ended December 2015 compared to Rs 769.2 crore in year-ago period, driven by contract research business despite slow growth in biopharma and India branded formulations.

Bottomline matched analysts' estimates while revenue and operational performance missed expectations. Profit was estimated at Rs 105.5 crore on revenue of Rs 867 crore for the quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

9:30 am World economy: European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi warned that downside risks were increasing again and more stimulus might be necessary, causing a sharp move in equity and currency markets. "It will therefore be necessary to review and possibly reconsider our monetary policy stance at our next meeting in March," Draghi told a news conference, making it clear that things had changed since December as oil prices fell sharply. The euro fell 0.6 percent versus the dollar on his comments, breaking below the USD1.08 level. U.S. stocks also rallied sharply after his remarks, with Dow futures rising more than 115 points.Don't miss: ITC Q3 net seen up 5%, cigarette volumes may decline moderately

The market opened on a confident note Friday. The Sensex is up 218.34 points or 0.9 percent at 24180.55 and the Nifty is up 78.90 points or 1 percent at 7355.70. About 488 shares have advanced, 69 shares declined, and 24 shares are unchanged.

BHEL, Axis Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and Hindalco are top gainers in the Sensex.

InterGlobe Aviation is down 6 percent while Idea slips 3 percent post December quarter results.

The Indian rupee recovered in the early trade post breaching 68 level in the yesterday's session.

It opened higher by 24 paise at 67.78 per dollar versus 68.02 Thursday.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, "A rebound in global as well as domestic equity market will help rupee gain. The range for the USD-INR is seen between 67.60-68.10/dollar levels today." The dollar index held above the 99 mark.

Asian stocks gained early, after the markets were given some breathing space when the European Central Bank hinted of more monetary policy easing, while crude oil extended an overnight rally.

Japan's Nikkei bounced 3 percent to move away from a 15-month low struck Thursday and Australian shares rose 0.9 percent.