MUMBAI: Short covering, along with healthy quarterly results and an appreciation in rupee's value, buoyed the Indian equity markets on Friday.

Consequently, the key indices provisionally closed the day's trade with gains of over a percent each, as healthy buying was witnessed in healthcare, banks and oil and gas stocks.

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) edged up by 87 points or 1.08 percent, at 8,156.65 points.

The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 26,415.93 points, provisionally closed at 26,652.03 points (at 3.30 p.m.) -- up 285.35 points or 1.08 percent from the previous close at 26,366.68 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 26,677.43 points and a low of 26,405.28 points during the intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was tilted in favour of the bulls -- with 1,408 advances and 1,170 declines.

The key indices had touched their highest levels in 2016 during the previous trade session on Thursday.

The barometer index had surged by 485.51 points or 1.88 percent, while the NSE Nifty had risen by 134.75 points or 1.70 percent.

In terms of the broader markets, the midcap index rose 1.40 percent, while the smallcap index gained 0.55 percent.

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