(Updates for markets close) By Bharath Rajeswaran Oct 17 (Reuters) – India's equity benchmarks advanced on Friday as heavyweights HDFC Bank, ICICI bank and Reliance Industries rose, and logged weekly gains, as optimism over an earnings rebound and growing expectations of a December rate cut buoyed sentiment. The Nifty 50 rose 0.49% to 25,709.85, settling at one-year high levels, while the BSE Sensex gained 0.58% to 83,952.19. Both indexes added about 1.7% for the week, now sitting roughly 2.5% below their record highs from September 2024. Strong earnings from Nestle India, aided by recent government tax cuts, signaled a revival in consumption and powered the stock 7.5% higher this week. Minutes from the Reserve Bank of India's latest policy meeting further lifted rate-sensitive sectors this week by reinforcing expectations of a rate cut in December. Consumer stocks climbed 3%, and auto and realty advanced 2% and 4.1%, respectively during the week. Financials, banks rose 2.6% and 2%, respectively, hitting record high levels. "The early signs from the earnings season point to a promising turnaround, with Nestle India, Axis Bank posting solid numbers and IT majors logging decent numbers with no major disappointments," said Aishvarya Dadheech, founder of Fident Asset Management. "Optimism is building around a GST-driven demand revival, while U.S.-China trade tensions could renew overseas interest in domestic equities after a sharp sell-off in the last year." The broader mid-caps gained 0.4% while small-caps were little changed this week. On the day, the three heaviest stocks on the Nifty 50 index boosted the benchmarks. Private lenders HDFC Bank, ICICI bank rose 0.8% and 1.4%, respectively, ahead of their results on Saturday. Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries gained 1.3% ahead of its results post-market hours on Friday. In contrast, the IT sub-index dropped 1.6%. Wipro and Infosys slipped 5.1% and 2.1%, despite revenue surpassing second-quarter estimates as analysts raised concerns about margin pressures. Infosys' FY2026 revenue growth outlook of 2%–3% was also deemed overly conservative, according to CLSA. (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Ronojoy Mazumdar and Janane Venkatraman)
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