Mumbai, May 7 (IANS): The key Indian equity indices closed in the green on Friday with the BSE Sensex settling above the 49,000 mark.

Healthy buying was witnessed in metal stocks, with several stocks touching their all-time high levels.

Shares of Tata Steel touched a 52-week high of Rs 1,192 and SAIL stock touched a 52-week high of Rs 145.85 per share.

Sensex closed at 49,206.47, higher by 256.71 points or 0.52 per cent from its previous close of 48,949.76.

It opened at 49,169.14 and has touched an intra-day high of 49,417.64 and a low of 49,036.38 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 14,823.15, higher by 98.35 points or 0.67 per cent from its previous close.

Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities noted that during the week, foreign institutional investors sold heavily in the cash segment to the tune of Rs 5,500 crore that should reverse immediately otherwise it would minimize the upside for the market.

"In the coming week, again our focus should be on metals and pharmaceuticals stocks. From the defensive, we prefer the technology sector over the FMCG sector," he said.