The Indian equity market ended higher Friday led by gains in auto, IT and metal stocks amid positive global cues.

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The Sensex ended 127.01 points or 0.31 percent higher at 40,685.50 while the Nifty gained 33.90 points or 0.28 percent to close at 11,930.35. Broader indices supported the upside momentum with Nifty Smallcap and Nifty Midcap indices gaining over 0.6 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

For the week, Sensex and Nifty were up 1.7 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, regaining the losses of the previous week. Nifty Midcap index gained 3 percent while Nifty Bank added 4 percent this week.

Among sectors, Nifty Auto rallied the most over 2 percent followed by Nifty IT, Nifty Media, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Metals while Nifty Pharma and Nifty Realty ended in the red.

"The Nifty was stuck in a 75 point range for the day on the back of below-average volumes. This is characteristic of a rangebound market that is defined by indecisive movements. A clear direction will emerge only if we get past 12,050 on the upside or break 11,650 on the downside," said Manish Hathiramani, Proprietary Index Trader and Technical Analyst, Deen Dayal Investments.

Maruti Suzuki, M&M, Tata Steel, PowerGrid Corporation and Bajaj Auto led gains among Nifty constituents while UltraTech Cement, HCL Technologies, Hindustan Unilever, GAIL India and Hindalco Industries were the top index losers.

Shares of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) rallied over 7 percent after the announcement that Flipkart will invest Rs 1,500 crore in for a 7.8 percent stake in the company. As part of the deal, ABFRL will issue shares on a preferential basis to Flipkart at Rs 205 per share.

Shares of IDBI Bank ended over 1 percent higher after the bank reported net profit of Rs 324.4 crore as against the loss of Rs 3,459 crore, YoY. NII grew 3.9 percent to Rs 1,695.1 crore against Rs 1,631.5 crore, YoY.

Globally, stocks remained within a tight range on Friday, less than two weeks before the US presidential election, with traders looking for a breakthrough in stimulus talks in Washington, Reuters reported.

The final debate between US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Thursday provided few surprises.

European stocks pushed 0.8 percent higher for their best day in five trading sessions. Strong third-quarter results offset key business survey data showing patchy recoveries across the euro zone's two largest economies, Germany and France.

First Published:Oct 23, 2020 3:35 PM IST