Mumbai, April 11 -- Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty surged over 1% on Friday, propelled by buying in banking counters and a positive trend in global equities. Investor sentiment improved amid hopes of further easing in the West Asia crisis ahead of US-Iran negotiations and lower crude prices, analysts said. After staying in the positive territory throughout the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex later jumped 918.60 points or 1.20% to settle at 77,550.25. During the day, it surged 990.85 points or 1.29% to 77,622.50. A total of 3,360 stocks advanced while 945 declined and 144 remained unchanged on the BSE. The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 275.50 points or 1.16% to end at 24,050.60. On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark jumped 4,230.7 points or 5.77%, and the Nifty surged 1,337.5 points or 5.88%. "The positive momentum was primarily driven by improving global sentiment amid hopes of further easing in Middle East tensions ahead of scheduled negotiations between the US and Iran. This led to cooling crude oil prices and supported risk appetite for emerging markets like India," Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said. Additionally, sustained buying interest from domestic institutional investors and selective short covering aided the upmove, Mishra added.From the 30-Sensex firms, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, InterGlobe Aviation, Axis Bank and State Bank of India were the major gainers. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech were the laggards. The BSE Small Cap Select index jumped 1.64%, and the MidCap Select index climbed 1.50%. Auto jumped 2.75%, Capital Goods (2.27%), Consumer Durables (2.20%), Industrials (2.19%), Consumer Discretionary (2.18%), Bankex (2.06%), and Realty (2.02%). In contrast, BSE IT and Focused IT were the laggards. The positive trend was led by buying in banking, auto and financial stocks, while IT counters saw some profit booking after TCS' financial results. "A sharp upsurge in global equity markets had a positive spill-over effect on domestic equity benchmarks, with a sharp rally in banking, auto and realty stocks fuelling optimism throughout the trading session," Ankur Punj, MD & Business Head at Equirus Wealth, said. In Asian markets, South Korea's benchmark Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended higher. European markets were trading in positive territory. US markets ended higher on Thursday. "Indian equity markets closed the week's final session on a positive note, with the Nifty experiencing a range-bound session with a bullish bias, gaining over 1% as investors carefully priced in expectations of progress from the upcoming US-Iran negotiations, even as the ceasefire continued to remain uncertain. However, markets maintained a firm undertone," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said. Global markets shared a similarly constructive sentiment, with the US, European, and Asian indices all in the green zone, with Asian markets leading the gains, he added. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.57% to $96.47 per barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs.1,711.19 crore on Thursday, per exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors, however, bought stocks worth Rs.955.90 crore....