BENGALURU: Indian shares advanced on Friday, posting weekly gains, helped by a rally fuelled by investor optimism around the Federal Reserve sticking to its rate-easing stance this year.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.39% higher at 22,096.75, while the BSE Sensex added 0.26% to close at 72,831.94.

For the week, both benchmarks logged gains of about 0.3%, led by auto and realty stocks. “Markets are rejoicing on clarity from the Fed on rate cuts, and this will continue for a few more sessions,” said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities.

Auto stocks jumped 1.67%, taking weekly gains to 4.23%.

Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto and Eicher Motors added between 2% and 8% this week.