Mumbai, Sep 1 (IANS): Key Indian equity indices -- the NSE Nifty50 and the BSE Sensex -- traded with substantial gains during the mid-afternoon session on Friday as broadly positive global cues and healthy buying in automobile, banking and healthcare stocks kept investors' sentiments buoyed.

Around 1 p.m., the wider 51-scrip Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded higher by 43.10 points or 0.43 per cent at 9,961 points.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 31,769.34 points, traded at 31,871.69 points -- up 141.20 points or 0.44 per cent from its previous close at 31,730.49 points.

The Sensex has so far touched a high of 31,890.28 points and a low of 31,707.27 points.

The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1,581 advances and 799 declines.

"The BSE Sensex opened higher on Friday against the previous session's closing. The broader NSE's Nifty, too, rose in the morning hours. The Indian rupee opened little changed against the US dollar," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.

"Shares of pharmaceutical companies rose, whereas Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC shares fell. Top gainers on NSE were Dr. Reddy's Lab, Auropharma and Lupin, while the top losers for the morning were TCS, HDFC and Hindustan Unilever," he added.

On Thursday, the benchmark indices pared all losses to close in the green, supported by short covering in consumer durables, automobile and oil and gas stocks and positive European markets.

The Nifty50 closed at 9,917.90 points -- up 33.50 points or 0.34 per cent -- while the Sensex closed higher by 84.03 points or 0.27 per cent at 31,730.49 points.