Indian stocks advanced, closing their longest weekly winning streak in a decade.
The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.3% to 47,868.98 points in Mumbai at the end of a ninth straight week of gains. The NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced by the same magnitude.
Indian equities returned about 16% last year, as investors bet the rollout of vaccines for Covid-19 will usher in a rapid recovery in the economic growth and boost corporate earnings. 
The mid-and small-cap indexes outperformed the benchmark for the first time after 2017.
“Corporate earnings post the dip are likely to stage a handsome growth trajectory,” analysts at ICICI Securities Ltd in Mumbai said in a note. “For the calendar year 2021, we expect mid-caps and small-caps to gain relatively more than the large-caps.”
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd is set to open the quarterly earnings season with its results next Friday.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond increased by one basis point to 5.88%, while the rupee weakened 0.1% to 73.1325 per dollar.
Seventeen of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd advanced, led by a gauge of telecom companies.
Twenty stocks on the Sensex index rose while nine fell.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd gave the index its biggest boost and rose 2%, while ITC Ltd was the biggest winner with a 2.3% jump; ICICI Bank Ltd was the biggest loser and drag on the index, dropping 1.4%.
Meanwhile snapping the six-session winning streak, the rupee depreciated by 4 paise to settle at 73.11 (provisional) against the US dollar on the first trading day of the New Year on Friday. 
At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.09 against the US dollar and witnessed an intra-day high of 73.02 and a low of 73.11. 
The local unit finally settled at 73.11, registering a fall of 4 paise over its previous close. 
On Thursday, the rupee spurted 24 paise to end at a nearly four-month high of 73.07 against the US dollar. 
Forex traders said the momentum for the currency is likely to stay low as no major economic data is expected to release on the domestic as well as on the global front. 
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.29% to 89.93. 
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 117.65 points or 0.25% higher at 47,868.98, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 36.75 points to 14,018.50. 
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs1,135.59 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to provisional exchange data. 
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.33% to $51.80 per barrel.