The domestic equity market closed on a positive note on Friday, led by robust performance in banking and IT stocks. On the last trading day of the week, the 30-share benchmark index BSE Sensex closed at 80,436.84, up 1,330.96 points or 1.68 percent. Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 397.41 points or 1.65 per cent to close at 24,541.15.

Sensex, the main index of the Indian equity market, closed at its highest in over two weeks on the last trading day of the week. The market gained momentum on buying in IT stocks and Reliance Industries and a rise in global equities. The Sensex rose 1,412.33 points or 1.78 percent intraday to 80,518.21. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies increased by Rs 717 crore to Rs 44,444,444 during Friday's trading session. All stocks except Sun Pharma ended positive on the Sensex. Among the Sensex companies were Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel were the top gainers. Only Sun Pharma stock ended in the red. All industry indices ended in positive territory.

The BSE Midcap index rose 1.8% and the Smallcap index rose 1.7%. Asian markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong posted strong gains. European markets were mostly in positive territory. US markets closed with a strong gain early on Thursday.

Falling US inflation changes market sentiment

Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services said. Moreover, strong US retail sales and fall in weekly jobless claims helped ease fears of a US recession. Moreover, lower US consumer price inflation also improved market sentiment. Against this backdrop, buying was seen in Indian IT stocks."

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,595.27 crore earlier on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,236.21 crore.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.22 percent to $80.05 a barrel. Indian stock markets were closed on Thursday for Independence Day. On Wednesday, the BSE benchmark ended 149.85 points, or 0.19 percent, higher at 79,105.88. The NSE Nifty rose 4.75 points, or 0.02 percent, to close at 24,143.75.

Rupee rose slightly against the dollar

The rupee closed at 83.94 against the dollar on Friday after closing at 83.9475 in the previous session. The Indian rupee ended little changed on Friday after trading in a limited range.

Most Asian currencies recovered from initial declines. Light dollar selling by foreign banks during the period helped support the rupee's rise above its record lows.