Markets end in green for 6th straight day; Sensex rallies 354 points

New Delhi: Markets closed in green for the sixth straight day on Friday with both equity indicess rising above 0.75 percentage points.

The BSE Sensex ended 353.84 points or 0.90 per cent higher at 39,467.31. The NSE Nifty surged 88.35 points or 0.76 per cent to close at 11,647.60.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, SBI, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, HDFC, ITC and LT, rising upto 8.43 percent. On the other hand, major losers were Powergrid, Infosys, NTPC, Asian Paint, HUL, M&M, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, HCL Tech, TCS, Titan and Maruti, falling upto 1.24 percent.

Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth a net Rs 1,164.32 crore on Thursday, exchange data showed.

The rupee, meanwhile, strengthened 43 paise to end at 73.39 against the US dollar.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul ended with gains. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note in early deals.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.35 per cent lower at USD 45.44 per barrel.

In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE Sensex finished at 39,113.47, up 39.55 points or 0.10 per cent. The NSE Nifty inched up 9.65 points or 0.08 per cent to close at 11,559.25.