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Indian Equities End Higher on Friday as Banking Stocks Lift Sentiment

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Indian benchmark indices closed higher on Friday, supported by gains in heavyweight banking stocks.

The BSE Sensex rose 231.99 points, or 0.3%, to close at 75,415.35, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 64.60 points, or also 0.3%, to settle at 23,719.30.

Investor sentiment remained mixed as Brent crude oil prices climbed more than 2% to trade above $105 per barrel amid continued uncertainty over a potential U.S.-Iran agreement.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee extended its recovery against the U.S. dollar, strengthening to 95.7 after touching a record low of 96.96 earlier in the month. Market participants continued to track intervention measures by the Reserve Bank of India aimed at stabilizing the currency.

In earnings news, Minda Corp. (NSE:MINDACORP, BOM:538962) surged nearly 8% after fiscal fourth-quarter consolidated profit rose sharply to 1.25 billion rupees from 520.3 million rupees a year earlier.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (NSE:SUNPHARMA, BOM:524715) declined over 2% despite reporting a higher fiscal fourth-quarter consolidated net profit of 27.1 billion rupees, compared with 21.5 billion rupees a year ago.

Suzlon Energy (NSE:SUZLON, BOM:532667) gained nearly 2% after receiving a repeat 195 MW order from Sunsure Energy for a project in Karnataka, the company said in an exchange filing on Friday.

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