India's key indices S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 recovered from its early trade losses and traded higher during the afternoon session on Friday."The roller coaster ride in the market will continue till some clarity emerges on the Ukraine issue. The de-escalation in tensions which the market immediately discounted with a sharp up move has now been replaced with re-escalation of tensions on the Ukraine-Russia border and the consequent sharp market down move," said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services."Since it is difficult to predict the outcome of this crisis, investors may follow a wait and watch strategy for the short run. The more enduring headwind for the market this year would be monetary tightening by the US Fed."
Back home, Indian inflation is under control and credit growth is expected to pick up to double digits, which augurs well for financial markets, Vijayakumar added.
At 1.25 p.m., Sensex traded at 58,037 points, up 0.3 per cent or 149 points, whereas Nifty traded 17,340 points, up 0.2 per cent or 35 points.Among the stocks, Coal India, SBI Life, HDFC, Grasim Industries, and SBI were the top five gainers among the Nifty 50 companies, rising 2.8 per cent, 2.7 per cent, 1.3 per cent, 0.9 per cent, and 0.9 per cent, respectively.Cipla, ONGC, Divi's Labs, Ultratech Cement, and Shree Cement, on the other hand, were the top losers in the afternoon session.