The Sensex and the Nifty hit their highest in 2-1/2 months on Friday and posted their third consecutive weekly gain given a Greece default is seen as factored in, while better-than-expected progress of the monsoon also boosted the sentiment.

April-June earnings, expected to begin on a subdued note with some disappointment from IT companies, could be the next key trigger.

"June-quarter would only see a marginal improvement on a sequential basis as seen in core sector growth and tax collections," said G. Chokkalingam, founder of Equinomics, a Mumbai-based research and fund advisory firm.

Earnings would be led by private banks and capital goods, he added.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended higher by 146.99 points or 0.53 per cent at 28,092.79 and the 50-share NSE index gained 40 points or 0.47 per cent to 8,484.90.

Among BSE sectoral indices, banking index gained the most by 0.76 per cent, followed by capital goods 0.57 per cent, FMCG 0.46 per cent and healthcare 0.41 per cent. On the other hand, metal index lost investors' support and was down 1.48 per cent, followed by realty 0.54 per cent, auto 0.39 per cent and infrastructure 0.28 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were HDFC (+2.53%), Hero MotoCorp (+1.77%), Lupin (+1.64%), HDFC Bank (+1.61%) and BHEL (+1.08%), while the major losers were VEDL (-1.93%), Coal India (-1.63%), Tata Steel (-1.13%), Wipro (-0.98%) and Tata Motors (-0.74%).

Brokers said fresh buying by investors at prevailing levels and RBI Governor's statement yesterday that India's exposure to Greece is limited influenced the trading sentiment.

European shares edged down towards their biggest weekly fall in two months on Friday, with focus on a crucial vote in Greece over its debt negotiations at the weekend.

The FTSEurofirst 300 was down 0.2 per cent at 1,524.75 points by 0707 GMT, down 3.1 per cent for the week and set for its biggest weekly fall since late April.

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