Indian shares extend gains as banks, auto stocks advance

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian shares rose for a sixth straight session on Friday, and were set for their best week since mid-March, boosted by gains in banking and auto stocks on the back of strong earnings expectations.

The NSE Nifty 50 index climbed 0.45% to 16,680, as of 0403 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.43% at 55,920.97. Both the indexes closed at their highest levels in more than six weeks on Thursday and have gained nearly 4% so far this week.

The Nifty bank index rose 0.84%, while the auto index was up 0.81%.

Shares of Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals jumped 8.4% on strong June-quarter earnings, while Quick Heal Technologies rose 8.8% after approving a share buyback plan.

A bunch of Nifty 50 companies, including Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement and JSW Steel, will report their earnings later in the day.

(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)