Sensex rises 119 pts

The Sensex and the Nifty rose on Friday, to their second consecutive weekly gains, as technology stocks such as Infosys extended a rally this year after data continued to signal a sturdier US economy.

India's software services sector has been among the strongest winners this year and is set to end 2013 on a strong note after Wall Street hit a new peak on strong data from the holiday shopping season and a fall in initial jobless claims. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remain buyers of domestic shares, with a net purchase of Rs 744 crore on Thursday, bringing the monthly total so far to around $2.5 billion.

The Sensex closed up 0.56 per cent, or 118.99 points at 21,193.58, gaining 0.54 per cent for the week. The Nifty ended higher 0.56 per cent at 6,313.80, marking a 0.63 per cent gain for the week. That marked the second consecutive weekly gains for both indexes.

Infosys ended up 1.15 per cent at 3,561.30, just short of its record high of 3,573.00 hit on December 20. Tata Consultancy Services gained 2.87 per cent, while Wipro closed 1.18 per cent higher.