Buoyed by firm global cues, Bombay Stock Exchanges benchmark Sensex held on to morning gains and was ruling 178 points in the green around Friday noon.

The Sensex, which opened higher at 14,321.98 points, was ruling at 14,444.18 points, 178.65 points or 1.25% above Thursday's closing figure.

Around the same time, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too moved into the green, 1.01% up at 4,294.45 points.

Broader market indices were doing a tad better, with the BSE midcap index trading 1.78% higher and the BSE smallcap index moving up 1.17%.

Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, only that for PSU stocks was in the red, while the ones for capital goods, IT and metal stocks were ruling at the top.

Markets breadth was positive with 1,287 stocks advancing compared to 1,007 declining. Seventy-five remained unchanged.

Among gainers on the Sensex at this time were Tata Motors, up 5.3% at Rs.346; Tata Steel, up 4.67% at Rs.407.15; Reliance Communications, up 3.38% at Rs.308.90; and Infosys, up 3.34% at Rs.1,779.

Among the losers on the Sensex were NTPC, down 2.49% at Rs.197.50; ACC, down 1.27% at Rs.748.70; ONGC, down 1.22% at Rs.1,000; and Tata Power, down 1.15% at Rs.1,163.25.

Other Asian markets also rose, with a key index of the Tokyo stock exchange, Nikkei 225 Stock Average, ending the week at 9,786.26 points, 82.54 points higher than its previous close.

The Hang Seng, a primary index of the Hong Kong stock exchange, was ruling 177.61 points up at 17,954.27 points.

Major US stock indices made gains for the first time this week Thursday after a streak of reports suggested the country's recession may be coming to an end.

The US Labour Department said in a weekly report that claims for unemployment benefits fell for the first time since January, dropping by 148,000 to 6.69 million people.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 58.42 points or 0.69% to end at 8,555.6 points, while the broader Standard and Poor's 500 climbed 7.66 points or 0.84% to 918.37.

But the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index witnessed little change and was down 0.34 points or 0.02% to 1,807.72.