Indian shares rose 1% on Friday, driven by gains in information technology stocks, as investor sentiment improved across the globe thanks to strong retail earnings outlooks in the United States and waning concerns about overly aggressive rate hikes.

The NSE Nifty 50 index rose as much as 0.98% to 16,329.35, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.99% to 54,791.78. Both the indexes were trading up 0.7%, as of 0440 GMT, and set for a second straight weekly gain.

Most major Nifty sub-indexes climbed on Friday, led by a 2.85% rise in IT stocks. Pandemic-favourite technology stocks have recently come under pressure, with the Nifty sub-index down nearly 10% so far in May and set for an eighth straight weekly fall.

Technology stocks led the post-pandemic rally in India, as well as the fall, said Harendra Kumar, managing director at Elara Securities.

"Technical support comes in after some correction and that's one factor at play," he said.

Soaring inflation, supply-chain issues and the hit from the Ukraine war will bring an end to the growth boom India's IT services industry enjoyed during the pandemic, J.P.Morgan analysts had warned earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Asian shares extended overnight global gains, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 1.5% in early trade on the back of strong results from regional tech firms.

In India, aluminium and copper manufacturer Hindalco Industries rose as much 4.7% and was among the top gainers on the Nifty 50 index after its March-quarter profit after tax doubled from a year earlier.

Banking stocks also advanced and lent support to the Nifty 50. Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance were the top two gainers, rising more than 3% each.

Among the few losers, non-banking financial company Muthoot Finance slipped 9.7% after it posted a fall in its March-quarter profit.

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)