Chasing strong global signals previous to election results, the 30-share-index BSE Sensex closed the week on a strong note after gaining 300.51 points, which was also a seven-month closing high for the index.

The stocks, which remained in limelight on Friday included banking, capital goods, consumer durables, IT and realty.

Mirroring strong buying as well as cues from foreign market, BSE Midcap and Smallcap also marked their closures on a positive note.

BSE Midcap closed 1.33% higher and BSE Smallcap Index closed up 0.84%.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Bankex ended 3.86% up, BSE Capital Goods Index rose 3.57% and BSE IT Index gained 2.47%.

Foreign institutions were in the forefront on Friday, while their domestic counterparts also chipped in.

NSE’s provisional data showed net buying by FIIs at Rs 984 crore and the domestic funds mopped up shares worth Rs 432 crore.

Mr. Ambareesh Baliga, Karvy Stock Broking vice-president said, “The prevalent feeling is that either the UPA or NDA will form a government at the Centre. This probably can be attributed to Friday’s market rally.”

On Friday, Sensex opened at 11,948.70, up 75.79 points, and move forward and break the 12,000 mark during early trades. As the day proceeded, the stock index rallied following heavy buying activity witnessed across board.

Finally, BSE’s 30-share Sensex marked its closure at 12173.42, up 300.51 points, or 2.53%. NSE’s 50-share Nifty closed at 3671.65, up 78.2 points, or 2.18%.

The broader market also ended strong, with gainers outnumbering losers 1472:1068 on BSE.

The top gainers during the day were Ranbaxy Laboratories, which gained 8.59%, ICICI Bank surged 7.03%, Grasim Industries climbed 4.96%, Bharti Airtel increased 4.68%, L&T advanced 4.32%, and TCS remained up by 4.16%.

The losers’ list included ONGC, which declined 2.27%, NTPC slipped 0.56%, ITC down 0.51%, Hindalco Industries fell 0.49%, and HUL dropped 0.09%.

Asian stocks gained after Sony predict a minor loss than analysts projected and Japanese machine orders declined less than the estimated figures.

Nikkei climbed 171.29 points to end at 9,265.02, Hang Seng index surged 249.01 points to close at 16,790.70 and Shanghai Composite advanced 5.38 points to settle at 2,645.26.