NEW DELHI: The domestic benchmark indices continued their rally for a seventh straight day underpinned by gains in IT, metal and select bank stocks.
Investment sentiment got a boost from steady industrial production data and easing inflation numbers, which were released on Thursday.
The industrial production grew faster than 7 per cent for the fourth month running in February, while consumer inflation moderated to a five-month low in March, providing a double boost for the economy, ET reported.
The BSE Sensex closed 92 points, or 0.27 per cent, up at 34,193, while the NSE Nifty50 index closed 22 points, or 0.21 per cent, up at 10,481.
Midcap and smallcap stocks too rose in sync with Sensex, rising up to 0.46 per cent.
“Nifty touched 10,500 and ended marginally higher amid volatility. It started on positive note, in response to the latest macroeconomic data viz. IIP and CPI inflation portraying favorable picture of the economy. However, profit taking at higher levels in banking space and caution ahead of IT major, Infosys, results capped upside,” said Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking.
“Markets will react to the Infosys numbers in early trade on Monday. Indications are in the favor of up move to continue and Nifty to test 10600 in near future. We advise keeping hedged positions, considering possibility of volatile swings during the earnings season,” he added.
Adani Ports rose almost 3 per cent in the Sensex index to emerge as the top gainer of the day, followed by Wipro, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Coal India.
On the contrary, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and YES Bank remained the top losers in the Sensex kitty, falling up to 1.22 per cent.
Shares of Ashok Leyland rallied over 3 per cent on Friday after the company informed bourses that it has won an order for 10×10 vehicles to carry the smerch rockets from the Ministry of Defence.
Shares of Future Lifestyle Fashions too clock up gains of over 3 per cent on Friday on reports that Future Specialty Retail, a wholly-owned subsidiary, will be the sole Indian retailer for LeeCooper apparel and footwear.
Infosys also pocketed mild gains of 0.58 per cent ahead of its fourth quarter earning numbers for the last fiscal.
Among the sectors on BSE, FMCG, telecom, capital goods and oil and gas closed the day in the negative territory. BSE Metal emerged as the top gainer among sectoral indices, with a gain of 1 per cent.
Apollo Tyres, Britannia Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra and Escorts stood among the stocks that hit fresh 52-week highs on Friday.
European stocks moved up on Friday as investors anticipated a better result season. Asian stocks remained mixed.
[contf] [contfnew] 
ET Markets
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
