Sensex ends at 7-week high above 27K mark; Nifty holds 8,150

Domestic markets rose to a seven-week high on Friday tracking a rally in Asian markets after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting quelled expectations of an imminent US rate hike.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 27,079.51 level, up 233.70 points, while broader 50-share Nifty index closed 60.35 points up at 8,189.70.

Both indexes had hit their highest intraday levels since mid-August in today's trade.  

Sentiment on the Street remained positive with 19 of the 30 stocks ending the day in green.

The gains come as market gears up to kick off earnings season next week, with Infosys reporting quarterly results on Monday.

"The market will stay upbeat as we head into the earnings season, and we expect results to drive the movement in the next few weeks," said Deven Choksey, managing director, K R Choksey Securities.

A spurt in crude futures after an influential forecaster predicted that a market rally was not far off also lifted oil explorers such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Gas Authority of India (GAIL), which ended 2.13 per cent and 1.97 per cent up respectively.

Metal stocks rose with Vedanta being the top Sensex gainer closing the day 12.3 per cent up. Tata Steel and Hindalco added 4.26 per cent and 1.89 per cent, respectively.

Gains were also supported by automakers after data released on Friday showed India's car sales rose 9.5 per cent in September, buoyed by new launches and a recovery in Asia's third-largest economy.

Among other Asian markets, China's Shanghai Composite ended the day 1.27 per cent higher at 3,183.15, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.46 per cent up, while Japan's Nikkei settled 1.64 per cent up at 18,438.67.

(With inputs from Reuters)