Mumbai, Aug 21 (IANS): The Indian equity market made healthy gains during Friday's trading session on the back of positive global cues and value buying opportunities.

After a gap-up opening, the indices held on to their initial gains despite volatility.

Sector-wise, the top gainers were the BSE Power, Utilities, Realty and Bankex indices, whereas top losers were the BSE Telecom, Metal, Oil and Gas and IT indices.

Globally, major Asian markets closed on a positive note.

Similarly, European indices like the FTSE, CAC and DAX ended higher.

The NSE Nifty50 closed at 11,371.60, up by 59.40 points, or 0.53 per cent, from its previous close.

The Sensex closed at 38,434.72, higher by 214.33 points, or 0.56 per cent, from the previous close of 38,220.39.

"Technically, with the Nifty ending higher, traders will need to watch if the Nifty can hold above the crucial trend reversal levels of 11,291 in the coming week for the uptrend to continue; else the current uptrend would reverse and we could be headed lower," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

"Volumes on the NSE were in line with recent average with Banks, Pharma, Realty and FMCG stocks ending with gains while Media, IT and Metals stocks ended in the negative."

According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services: "Indian indices had a strong opening and inspite of volatility held onto some of the gains, supported by positive global cues. The broader market indices performed better than the benchmarks. Overnight gains in US Tech shares, in spite of underwhelming economic data in the US, helped global markets."

"Domestically, more hopes arose regarding normalisation of businesses and affected sectors, as the government continued with the 'unlock' process."

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