Indian equities came out of their two-day slumber to post a record close, rounding off a week of gains.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended 1.4% or 700 points higher at 48,782. The index registered a weekly advance for the 10th straight week. This is the longest stretch of weekly gains for the 30-stock index dating back to June 2009.
The NSE Nifty 50 too closed 210 points higher, gaining 1.5% to 14,347. 41 out of the 50 index constituents ended with gains.
Gains in today's session were led by Autos and Technology names. Maruti ended as the top Nifty gainer, rising close to 6% while three among the top five gainers on the index were I.T. majors. The Nifty Auto index ended with gains of 3.3% while the I.T. index jumped 3.6% to end at another record high.
The Media index too gained 3.3% in today's session, courtesy the surge in Zee Entertainment and Inox Leisure. The Nifty Pharma index rose 1.6%.
Underperformers today were Metals and PSU Banks. The Metal index fell 0.6% while the PSU Bank index declined 0.45%.
Broader markets underperformed the benchmarks, even as they ended higher. The Midcap index rose 1% while the Smallcap index ended 0.6% higher.
The India Volatility Index rose 1% to end at 20.82.
1,058 stocks on the NSE ended with gains while 846 stocks declined.