Mumbai, May 17 (IANS): India stock indices were up on Friday following robust Q4 earnings from consumer and auto companies.

At closing, Sensex was up 253 points or 0.34 per cent, at 73,917 points and Nifty was up 62 points or 28 per cent at 22,466 points.

The broader market indices had outperformed benchmarks. The Nifty midcap 100 index was up 451 points or 0.88 per cent, at 51,604 points and the Nifty smallcap 100 index was up 274 points or 1.65 per cent, at 16,870 points.

The India volatility index, India VIX was down 1.05 per cent at 19.79 points.

Also, 19 out of 30 Sensex stocks were in the red.

Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, JSW Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and NTPC were the top gainers. Whereas TCL, HCL Tech, Wipro, HUL and Nestle were the top losers.

Market experts said: "Despite mixed global signals and uncertainties surrounding the US Fed, the Indian market experienced a robust recovery, largely fuelled by the outperformance of the broader market and positive Q4 earnings."

They added that some index heavyweight earnings surpassed expectations, and midcap and small-cap stocks continued to exhibit buying interest during dips.

“Auto and consumer durables particularly stood out with strong earnings momentum,” they said.