A late rally in shares of ICICI Bank and power utility NTPC Ltd helped Indian stocks rise Friday after suffering losses in early trade, according to AP. The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex index moved up 245 points, or 1.2 percent, to close at 20,828 points. On the broader National Stock Exchange, the 50-company S&P Nifty index rose 44 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,200 points. The Sensex rebounded after falling to 20,506 points, or 197 points lower than the day's opening on news that the country's industrial growth sharply slowed to 5.3 percent in November, according to government data released Friday. Dragged down by a contraction in the consumer goods sector, the Index of Industrial Production was sharply lower than a 12 percent expansion in the preceding month and 15.8 percent growth in the same month a year ago. A spate of buying in ICICI and other bank stocks saw a rise in the Sensex. ICICI Bank Ltd. moved up 6.1 percent to 1,440 rupees, followed by HDFC Bank Ltd. up 2.5 percent to 1,762 rupees and State Bank of India up 1.2 percent to 2,437 rupees. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd. moved up 3.3 percent to 3,128 rupees Power utility NTPC Ltd. also rose 2.3 percent to 272 rupees.
