Interim Budget announcements of higher tax exemption limit and key measures for the rural economy and SME sector buoyed the Indian equity market on Friday.

However, the two key indices -- Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- ceded some of the day's gains as key finance and banking stocks ended lower.

Auto stocks gained over 2 per cent while the metal stocks lost 3 per cent.

Index-wise, the Sensex closed 212.74 points or 0.59 per cent higher at 36,469.43 points after hitting a high of 36,778.14, while the Nifty ended the Budget day's trade at 10,893.65, up 62.70 points.

"The outcome of Interim Budget has been marginally better than expected by the market as it provided incentives to small farmers and common man while maintaining a rationality in the long term," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

For the market in the short term, Nair said the Budget provided a good signal since the Interim Budget "will not trouble the economic accountancy and populist agenda".

"These measures are positive for the consumption oriented sectors like FMCG, consumer staples and durables as well as auto and has attracted investor interest."

Stock-wise, Hero Moto Corp gained the most, up 7.48 per cent, followed by Maruti Suzuki, HCL Tech, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finance while Vedanta tanked close to 18 per cent, most among the 30 stocks on Sensex.

Among the other top losers were Yes Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

--IANS

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