Mumbai, Nov. 6 -- The key equity benchmarks ended sharply higher on Friday, extending their winning streak to a seventh consecutive trading session, supported by sustained buying by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and a strengthening rupee, which touched a six-month high. The appreciation in the domestic currency helped improve investor sentiment, while optimism ahead of the Diwali celebrations and the ongoing festive season provided further support to the market rally. The Nifty closed above the 25,000 mark.

Barring media, all the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in green with private bank, consumer durables and pharma shares leading the gains

As per provisional closing data, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 1,718.01 points or 2.17% t...