Indian shares ended higher on Friday after climbing more than 1 percent during the session, after Moody's Investors Service upgraded India's sovereign bond rating for the first time in nearly 14 years. The broader NSE index closed 0.67 percent higher at 10,283.60, while the benchmark BSE index finished 0.71 percent up at 33,342.80.
Financials led the gains, with Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd rising 2.9 percent and ICICI Bank Ltd ending 1.8 percent higher. For the week, the NSE index declined 0.4 percent, while the BSE index ended flat. Moody's lifted the country's rating to 'Baa2' from 'Baa3', while also changing its rating outlook to 'stable' from 'positive'. The ratings upgrade comes just weeks after the World Bank moved India up 30 places in its annual ease of doing business rankings.
The benchmark 10-year bond yield dropped as much as 12 basis points, while the rupee rose to as high as 64.60 against the dollar from its close of 65.3250 on Thursday. Financials accounted for more than half the gains on the NSE index, with the Nifty finance index climbing 2 percent and the Nifty PSU Bank index up 2.4 percent. IT stocks, however, fell as the rupee firmed, with the Nifty IT index down 0.9 percent. Infosys Ltd fell 1.7 percent, while Tata Consultancy Services Ltd slipped 0.8 percent.
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