Markets close on a high

Metal, Oil & Gas scrips lead gains

Markets closed for the day with the Sensex up 146 points at 19,317 and the Nifty added 51 points to close at 5,876. (provisional)
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(Updated at 14:47 hrs)

Markets edged higher in the afternoon deals, on the first day of the December series. The Sensex was up 190 points at 19,361. NSE Nifty went up 54 points at 5,879.

In the broader markets, the midacp index advanced 1% outperforming the smallcap and the Sensex which gained 0.8% each.

India's July-September GDP growth expanded at its three-year low of 5.3% compared to analysts estimate of 5.3-5.4% year-on-year and from 5.5% in the previous quarter.

In other markets, Asian shares hit a nine-month peak on Friday, as firmer overnight global equities created an upbeat tone, but flows were largely driven by month- and year-end position-squaring, with investors taking profits on the rises and buying on dips.

The Nikkei average hit a seven-month closing high on Friday as a weaker yen, driven by persistent expectations the Bank of Japan will act more boldly under a likely new government after a December 16 election, lifted the shares of exporters. The Nikkei ended 0.5% higher to 9,446.01 on Friday after trading as high as 9,492.91, or 1% up, earlier in the session. The other major gainers were Straits Times, Taiwan Weighted and Shanghai Composite which added 0.8-1%.

European stocks dipped on Friday, relinquishing some of the previous session's sharp gains, as mixed signals about U.S. budget talks injected a note of caution into markets. FTSE remained flat with a negative bias while CAC and DAX added 0.1% each.

Among sectoral indices, Power, Metal, Oil & Gas, PSU, Bankex, Consumer Durables and Capital Goods indices advanced 1% each.

The top gainers among the Sensex-30 were BHEL, ONGC, Jindal Steel, Sterlite, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, HDFC, Hindalco, and SBI up 2-4%

Among the losers were Coal India, Bajaj Auto, HUL and Maruti Suzuki down 0.5-1%.

The market breadth was positive. 1661 stocks advanced while 1223 stocks declined on the BSE.