Indian shares traded higher on Friday, aided by gains in IT stocks, and as the country39;s central bank raised its growth expectations for the current fiscal year while keeping interest rates unchanged as expected.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 1 at 23,060 points and the SP BSE Sensex added 1.2 to 75,941 points after the rate decision.

The Reserve Bank of India RBI kept its key interest rate unchanged in a widely expected move as robust economic growth continues to provide space to focus on bringing down inflation, and raised the real gross domestic product for the current financial year to 7.2 from 7.

The revision reaffirms that the central bank remains upbeat on growth, said Sakshi Gupta, principal economist, HDFC Bank, Gurugram.

On the day, all thirteen sectors were trading in the green.

Heavyweight IT stocks gained 3 after major central banks kickstarted their rate easing cycle, adding to expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve could follow suit.

Wipro, India39;s no.4 IT company, advanced 5 and was the top gainer on the IT index after winning an order worth 500 mln from a U.S.based communication services provider.

Bajaj Finance rose 3 after its housing finance unit approved an initial public offering to raise 40 billion rupees.

Investors now await the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, due later in the day, which could influence the trajectory of interest rates in the U.S., a key market for IT firms.

Reporting by Sethuraman NR and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru;…