Indian benchmark indices continued their gains for the third straight day on Friday, with the BSE Sensex ending 269.44 points higher at 36,076.72, and the National Stock Exchange Nifty 50 closing 80.10 points up at 10,859.90. The rise in the markets was the result of gains in finance stocks, and a rally in European and United States markets, Mint reported.

Sun Pharmaceuticals was the top gainer on the Sensex, followed by Vedanta, HDFC, Yes Bank and ICICI Bank. The biggest losers on the Sensex were Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel and Hero Motorcorp.

The top gainer on the Nifty was Titan Company, followed by Sun Pharmaceuticals, Indian Oil Corporation, Zee Entertainment and Yes Bank. The stocks which declined the most were Coal India, Bharti Infratel, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Bajaj Auto and Tata Consultancy Services.

Most other Asian markets, with the exclusion of Japan’s Nikkei 225, gained on Friday. The Hong Kong Hang Seng gained 25.32 points, the Australia ASX All Ordinaries 53.90 points, the Shanghai index 10.81 points and the Taiwan TSEC 50 Index 85.85 points.

The Indian rupee closed 40 paise higher at 69.95 against the United States dollar on Friday.