The domestic equity markets finished the choppy session of trade on a positive note on Friday led by strong global cues. Public sector undertaking and consumer durables stocks played a spoilsport for local equities otherwise it would have been a good day for the markets. Selective selling was also evident in stocks representing auto, software, metal and oil & gas sectors. The markets got off to a flying start aided by the good gains in the regional peers. Situation was in favour of the bulls till afternoon trades. The main indices started losing their sheen in the afternoon session after some media reports quoted that the government was seeking the Parliament nod for extra spending of Rs 31,780 crore for the current fiscal. The sudden bout of selling pulled the indices into the negative terrain. The benchmark indices -- Sensex and Nifty -- failed to hold on to the crucial levels of 17,000 and 5100, respectively. Strong direct tax collection numbers for the month of February 2010 boosted investors' confidence in trade. Direct tax collections during the month under review have gone up by 27.54% to Rs 14,675 crore from Rs 11,506 crore for the year ago period. In January 2010, the collections had declined by 19.84%. Star performer of past few trading sessions -- realty sector -- once again led the gainers list. Clarity from the Revenue Department on the proposal to levy service tax on home sales lifted sentiment for the realty stocks. Finally, the BSE Sensex added 22.79 points or 0.13% to close at 16,994.49 while the S&P CNX Nifty gained 8.45 points or 0.17% to shut shop at 5,088.70.

US markets surged on good monthly jobs report, as the Labor Department's monthly report is considered by the investors as one of the most important measure of the economy's health. All the major indices climbed more than 1 percent, breaking their consolidation mood of last few sessions. The Labor Department reported that employers cut 36,000 jobs last month, better than the 50,000 cuts forecast by economists while the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent. Economists were expecting it to rise to 9.8 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 122.06 points, or 1.17%, to 10,566.20, its highest close since January 20. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose by 15.73 points, or 1.40%, to 1,138.70 while the Nasdaq composite index added 34.04 points, or 1.48%, to 2,326.35.

Crude prices surged to their highest level in nearly eight weeks on Friday, as the government data showed that US employers cut a smaller number of jobs than expected in February. The oil prices got an additional boost with Ecuador's oil minister Germanico Pinto stating that there was no need for an output cut at OPEC's March 17 meeting. Benchmark crude for April delivery closed up $1.29, or 1.61 percent, at $81.50 a barrel, its highest close since January 11,after trading in a range of $80.47 to $82.07 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, April Brent crude ended up $1.35, or 1.72 percent, at $79.89 a barrel.

The Indian rupee closed higher on Friday tracking the gains in other regional currencies. The domestic currency made a good start as the regional equity markets and currency were in bullish mood and when the local markets too started trading in sync with them the rupee sentiments got further boost. Earlier in its intraday trade the rupee touched its six week high while the other regional currencies too showed good move, Malaysian ringgit hit a six-week peak after the central bank raised interest rates, while the South Korean won too inched higher. Finally the rupee closed at 45.61, 20 paise higher compared to its Thursday's close of 45.81/82.

The FII on Friday were the net buyers in both equity as well as debt segments. In equity segment the gross buying was of Rs 2585.10 crore against gross sell of Rs 1892.90 crore, while in the debt segment the gross purchase was of Rs 981.50 crore with gross sales of Rs 502.90 crore.

The US markets moved higher on Friday supported by better than expected jobs data and the expectation that debt ridden Greece will get adequate support from the European Union. The Asian markets have made a good start and most of the indices are trading up by more than 1% while the domestic markets that closed on a flat note on the last trading are likely to get a good start supported by the global cues and may sustain gains after the Budget rally.