Indian shares posted their first weekly gain in three weeks on Friday led by buying in rate-sensitive sectors such as banks, real-estate along with oil & gas shares.
Global risk appetite was firm on hopes of monetary policy easing by the Japanese central bank coupled with expectations that the US will soon draw a resolution over 'fiscal-cliff' and prevent automatic tax hikes and spending cuts by year end that may push the world's biggest economy into recession.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex index rose 121.04 points to end at 19,444.84 while the National Stock Exchange's Nifty-50 index gained 38.25 points at 5,908.35. For the week, Sensex rose 1.05%, its first gain in three weeks.
Meanwhile, US stocks closed lower for the fifth straight day Friday, ending the week down nearly 2%, as investors continue to fear the impact of fall over the fiscal cliff.
The S&P 500, the Dow, and the Nasdaq ended the day down between 0.9% and 1.2%. The Dow suffered its steepest loss since November 14.
Among key Sensex stocks, Reliance Industries ended up 3%, Hindalco and Sterlite Industries rose 1% and 2.3%, HDFC gained 0.6%, Infosys and TCS rose over 1%, ONGC shot up 2.5% while in auto space Hero MotoCorp ended up 1.3% and Maruti Suzuki 1.4% on BSE.
The laggards include Sun Pharma declined 1%, Mahindra and Mahindra fell 0.7%, Bharti Airtel falling 0.1%, SBI declining 0.5% and Jindal Steel dropped 0.3% on BSE.
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Foreign institutional investors have been strong buyers this month, with inflows of over $4 billion bringing the total for the year to around $24 billion.
Movers & Shakers
BSE-Bankex and real-estate sectors posted over 1% gain for the week on hopes of cut in bank's lending rates by the Reserve Bank of India that will lower interest rates on loans for customers.
Oil and gas sector, posted biggest weekly gain of over 2% for the week ended December 28 on reports government is looking at the option of increasing diesel and kerosene prices by Rs 10 per litre in phases.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp, country's biggest oil explorer, rose 2% and other oil marketing companies such as Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Indian Oil Corp gained over 3%.
Suzlon Energy, country's biggest wind turbine maker gained 6% for the week on reports that lenders will meet on Friday to discuss a loan restructuring package, dealers said.
Bharti Infratel slumped 12.9% on trading debut as investors remained concerned over the outlook of the mobile tower operator.
Outlook
Investors are likely to focus on India's current account data for July-September due on Monday coupled with any hike in petrol prices by the government to reduce the mounting subsidy burden of oil marketing companies.
Globally, the key focus area will be the progress to avoid 'fiscal cliff' in US that is nearing its deadline of December 31. The Purchasing Manufacturing Index data released by China, US, Europe along with FOMC minutes of the meeting will also gain limelight.