Indian stocks inched higher on Friday but posted their biggest weekly falls since July 2009 as disappointing corporate earnings and weak global markets hit sentiment.

The broader NSE index ended up by 4.6 points or 0.07 per cent at 6,980.75, but closed the week down 6.78 per cent.

The benchmark BSE index gained 34.29 points or 0.15 per cent to 22,986.12, but lost 6.62 per cent on the week.

Both indexes posted their biggest percentage declines since July 2009.

Among BSE sectoral indices, auto index gained the most by 1.72 per cent, followed by TECk 1.02 per cent, FMCG 0.39 per cent and IT 0.25 per cent. On the other hand, capital goods index plunged 3.05 per cent, followed by oil & gas 2.47 per cent, infrastructure 1.66 per cent and PSU 1.63 per cent.

Major Sensex gainers were Tata Motors (+8.34%), Bharti Airtel (+5.4%), M&M (+3.77%), Axis Bank (+3.52%) and NTPC (+2.44%), while the major losers were BHEL (-13.13%), Adani Ports (-5.2%), ONGC (-4.56%), L&T (-3.53%) and Tata Steel (-3.18%).

Traders hope markets would stabilise though they think a dose of positive news is desperately needed as concerns about earnings continue to hurt sentiment.

Sharp falls in global markets are adding further pressure, with investors waiting for China's markets to reopen on Monday after a week-long holiday.

"We are deeply oversold technically and any kind of positive news or a short squeeze would lead to sharp bounces," said Hemen Kapadia, vice president, KR Choksey Securities.

A report by SMC Global said: "Markets in Asia dropped, with the Nikkei tumbling, after a sell-off on Wall Street as oil remained volatile and concerns about how central banks' easing measures will affect banks' earnings persisted. US stocks fell, with Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling more than 250 points, amid mounting concern that central-bank efforts to support growth are losing their potency. US jobless claims dropped to 269,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's un revised level of 285,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 281,000. With the bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 267,000 in the week ended December 19th."

European shares rose on Friday, rebounding from the previous session's steep losses, with encouraging results from Commerzbank and a rally in oil prices helping banks and commodity-related stocks to regain ground.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was up 1.4 per cent at 1,212.47, having closed down 3.7 per cent on Thursday, when a slump in banks and resource-related stocks pushed the index to a 2-1/2 year low.

Asian shares fell for a sixth straight session on Friday as concerns about the health of European banks further threatened a global economy already under strain from falling oil prices and slowdowns in China and other emerging markets.

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