Markets continue winning run on 2nd day as Sensex rises over 630 pts, Nifty above 16,350

Mumbai: Equity indices extended their winning run to a second straight session on Friday, buoyed by robust demand for IT, bank and auto stocks amid a supportive trend overseas.

The two-day rally also helped the benchmarks post their second straight weekly advance, in lockstep with a global rebound despite lingering concerns over high inflation and coordinated policy tightening by central banks.

Continuing with the previous session's momentum, the 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 632.13 points or 1.17 per cent to settle at 54,884.66.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 182.30 points or 1.13 per cent to 16,352.45.

Tech Mahindra was the top performer in the Sensex pack, spurting 4.10 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, M&M, Infosys, L&T and Bajaj Finserv.

On the other hand, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints and Nestle were the laggards, slumping as much as 2.43 per cent.

On a weekly basis, the Sensex climbed 558.27 points or 1.02 per cent, while the Nifty gained 86.30 points or 0.53 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.69 per cent and the smallcap index gained 1.20 per cent in Friday's session.

International oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.95 per cent to USD 118.5 per barrel.

The rupee inched 3 paise higher to close at 77.58 against US dollar on Friday, supported by positive domestic equities and weakness of the American currency overseas. Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree as they offloaded shares worth a net Rs 1,597.84 crore on Thursday, as per stock exchange data.