The Indian markets ended over half a per cent higher on Friday, lifted by financial stocks, while volatility index, India VIX, dipped 4 per cent to below 20 levels.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 214 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 38,435 levels, and the Nifty50 index ended above the 11,350-mark at 11,372, up 59 points or 0.53 per cent. NTPC (up over 4.5 per cent), Asian Paints (up over 4 per cent) and Power Grid (up over 4 per cent) were the top Sensex gainers. Asian Paints hit a record high of Rs 1,971 during the day. The stock settled at Rs 1,958.35 on the BSE.
On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 1.47 per cent while Nifty added 1.72 per cent.
On the flip side, ONGC (down over 1 per cent), Bharti Airtel (down 1 per cent), and Tata Steel (down nearly 1 per cent) were the biggest losers on the index.
Among other individual stocks, GMM Pfaudler surged over 8 per cent in early deals after it said it has acquired a 54 per cent stake in its parent firm Pfaudler Group for a consideration of around $27.4 million.
The trend among Nifty sectoral indices was positive, led by Nifty PSU Bank index, up 1.8 per cent.
Meanwhile, the broader markets kept up their outperformance. The S&P BSE MidCap index ended at 14,954, up 0.57 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 14,625.19, up nearly 1.5 per cent.
 "Market Wrap, August 21: Here's all that happened in the markets today")
