Markets firm; IT and Oil & Gas scrips gain

Wipro, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, RIL and TCS among the top gainers

Markets continue to trade firm with the Sensex up 52 points at 20,760 and the Nifty added 11 points to trade at 6,178 in the morning deals. Gains in IT and Oil and Gas heavyweights helped the indices to remain in the positive territory.

Meanwhile, broader markets outperformed with the midcap index up 0.9% and the smallcap index gained 0.8% as compared to the BSE benchmark index which was up marginally 0.3%.

The rupee fell for a fourth session, driven by weak Asian FX a day after U.S. announces stimulus taper. The unit is trading at 62.30 versus Thursday's close of 62.14/15.

In Asia, Chinese stocks stumbled on Friday on concerns over a cash crunch, while Asian shares crept higher, with investors reassessing the Federal Reserve's policy outlook after its decision this week to start tapering stimulus.

China's stock index shed 1.1%, hitting a five-week low, while shares of Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies sagged 0.9%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.1%. It erased early gains to end a touch softer in the previous session.

Tokyo's Nikkei benchmark shed 0.5% on profit-taking. The index rallied 1.7% to its highest closing level in six years on Thursday as the yen slid following the Fed taper decision.

Back home, IT, Auto and Oil & Gas indices up 1% each were the top sectoral gainers.

Capital Goods, FMCG and Metal indices down 0.1-0.9% were the only indices in the red.

Wipro up 2% was the top gainer among Sensex-30 followed by ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, RIL, TCS and Coal India up 1-1.5%.

Among the ones in the red, Sun Pharma, L&T and Sesa Sterlite down 1% each were the major losers.

Bharti Airtel, ITC, Jindal Steel, Tata Power and SBI down 0.2-0.7% rounded off the losers list.

The market breadth was positive owing to the strength in broader markets. 1229 stocks advanced while 759 stocks declined on the BSE.