Indian shares rose on Friday to post their biggest weekly gains since mid-June, tracking a rally in Asian markets after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting quelled expectations of an imminent US rate hike.

A spurt in crude futures after an influential forecaster predicted that a market rally was not far off also lifted oil explorers such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

The gains come as India gears up to kick off earnings season next week, with Infosys Ltd reporting quarterly results on Monday.

"The market will stay upbeat as we head into the earnings season, and we expect results to drive the movement in the next few weeks," said Deven Choksey, managing director, K R Choksey Securities.

The 30-share BSE index ended higher by 233.70 points or 0.87 per cent at 27,079.51 and the 50-share NSE index ended up by 60.35 points or 0.74 per cent at 8,189.70.

Both indexes had hit their highest intraday levels since mid-August and were headed for their biggest weekly gain since mid-July.

Gains were sparked after Fed minutes late on Thursday revealed the extent to which US policymakers are concerned that a global economic slowdown might threaten the economic outlook.

Metal stocks rise with Vedanta Ltd up 11.58 per cent, Tata Steel Ltd gaining 4.26 per cent and Hindalco Industries Ltd rising 1.89 per cent.

Oil explorers including Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Gas Authority of India Ltd also up 2.13 per cent and 1.97 per cent, respectively.

Gains were also supported by automakers after data released on Friday showed India's car sales rose 9.5 per cent in September, buoyed by new launches and a recovery in Asia's third-largest economy.

Tata Motors' shares were up 3.81 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, IT index gained the most by 1.51 per cent, followed by TECk 1.29 per cent, metal 0.99 per cent and capital goods 0.57 per cent. On the other hand, PSU index was down 0.28 per cent, followed by consumer durables 0.18 per cent, power 0.1 per cent and oil & gas 0.01 per cent.

A report by SMC Global said: "Asian stocks rose, extending a global equity rally, and Malaysia's ringgit headed for its best week since 1998 as investors piled back into riskier assets amid speculation the Federal Reserve won't be raising interest rates until risks from outside the US subside. US stocks climbed as crude oil topped $50 a barrel for the first time since July, while the dollar fell after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting indicated the central bank won't be in a hurry to remove stimulus.US initial jobless claims fell to 263,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level of 276,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 271,000 from the 277,000 originally reported for the previous week."

Brokers said all-round buying by participants, tracking a rally in other Asian markets following overnight gains in the Wall Street helped the indices rebound.

Top European stocks climbed to a one-month high on Friday and were set for their best weekly gain since late January on renewed hopes that central banks would keep monetary policy loose for longer.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW