Indian shares closed higher on Friday, with the benchmark BSE index recording its biggest weekly gain in nine weeks, as strong August sales data of companies such as Hero MotoCorp and Tata Motors lifted investor sentiment, while the broader sentiment was subdued ahead of a key US jobs report later in the day.

Investors remained cautious ahead of US non-farm payrolls report which could give clues on whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as soon as this month.

The NSE index gained 2.36 per cent in the week, its biggest gain in seven weeks, and closed up 35 points or 0.4 per cent at 8,809.65.

The BSE index ended 108.63 points or 0.38 per cent higher at 28,532.11 points, recording a 2.7 per cent gain over the week.

Both indexes gained in four out of the five sessions in the week with the Nifty Auto index being the top performer after rising as much as 1.2 per cent to hit a record high earlier in the session.

Sectoral indices

Among BSE sectoral indices, auto index gained the most by 1.01 per cent, infrastructure 0.98 per cent, realty 0.95 per cent and healthcare 0.69 per cent. On the other hand, metal index was down 0.29 per cent, IT 0.21 per cent and capital goods 0.1 per cent.

Gainers, losers

Top five Sensex gainers were Adani Ports (+3.55%), Bharti Airtel (+2.66%), Maruti (+1.98%), Sun Pharma (+1.5%) and M&M (+1.17%), while the major losers were Coal India (-1.64%), Reliance (-1.58%), HUL (-0.73%), Infosys (-0.64%) and Power Grid (-0.49%).

Global markets

Stocks and the dollar inched higher on Friday, with investor focus squarely on US jobs data later in the day which could give clues on whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, maybe even as soon as this month.

Asian stock markets wobbled and the dollar was on the defensive as caution prevailed after downbeat US manufacturing data tempered recent optimism on the world's largest economy that had revived expectations for a near-term rate hike by the Fed.

“The markets are in a consolidation phase after hitting 52-week highs earlier in the week,” said Mangesh Kulkarni of Almondz Global Securities Ltd.

“In the near-term, the NSE index will be factoring in global cues like the U.S. jobs data and foreign institutional investments to hit a possible 9,000 points.”

A report by SMC Global said: “Asian markets were mixed today, following a flat finish stateside, as traders likely huddled on the sidelines before the key US non-farm payrolls report due later in the global day. US stocks finished mostly higher on Thursday, recovering from earlier losses, as investors braced for the much-anticipated August jobs report on Friday, which could set the stage for a near-term interest-rate increase by the Federal Reserve. The monetary base in Japan surged 24.2 per cent on year in August, the Bank of Japan said - coming in at 400.998 trillion yen. That’s down from 24.7 per cent in July, and it marks the slowest rate of growth in more than a year. Banknotes in circulation added an annual 5.7 per cent, while coins in circulation gained 1.1 per cent. Current account balances spiked 32.0 per cent, including a 30.9 per cent jump in reserve account balances. The adjusted monetary base climbed 28.3 per cent to 400.793 trillion yen.’’

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