Indian stock markets closed the week on a pleasant note on account of good buying activity witnessed in metal, banking and FMCG stocks.

The 30-share index, BSE Sensex opened lower at 14,153.39, down 90.34 points, on Friday (August 22) mirroring worldwide signals and also due to rise in crude oil prices. In the noon trades, the BSE traded higher because of strong European markets.  

All sectoral indices marked their closures on a positive note led by BSE Metal, which gained 1.62%, BSE Bankex surged 1.18%, FMCG zoomed 1.09% and Oil & Gas climbed 1.05%.         

Metals stocks saw heavy buying because of increasing demand in commodities.

European stocks moved up helped by gains in oil and financial stocks. FTSE 100 surged 1%, CAC 40 gained 0.70% and DAX moved 0.75% higher.

The overall market breadth was marginally negative as it saw 1,209 progressions as against 1,414 declinations.    

Finally, the Sensex marked its closure at 14,401.49, up 157.76 points. It also touched an intra-day high of 14,428.52 and an intra-day low of 14,136.86.

On the other hand, the broad-based NSE Nifty closed at 4,327.45 after gaining 43.60 points. It touched an intra-day high of 4,337.00 and an intra-day low of 4,248.00.

The major gainers in the 30-share index included Sterlite Industries (India), Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Unilever,  Housing Development Finance Corporation, Bharat Heavy Electricals and Tata Power Company.

The major losers in the Sensex included Satyam Computer Services, Grasim Industries, NTPC, Wipro, Larsen & Toubro, and ITC.

Indian currency strengthened against the US dollar for the second day on Friday, helped by inflows from overseas and advancements in the stock market.

But dollar demand from oil companied and other importers reduced the gains.

The rupee marked its closure at 43.42/43 a dollar after touching a high of 43.30 against 43.52 a dollar on Thursday.

For the week ended August 9, inflation inched up further to 12.63% from 12.44% during the previous week, mainly on account of the unabated increase in the prices of fruits, vegetables, milk, pulses and certain manufactured products.