Mumbai, Jan 25 (IANS): Positive global markets and a strengthening rupee, with its third straight session of gains, aided the key equity indices to trade on a firm note on Friday afternoon.

The Sensex was up over 160 points and the Nifty was trading after noon just short of the 10,900 point mark.

The rupee opened at Rs 70.98 from its previous close of 71.07. It was, however, flat at 1.25 p.m.

All the sectors on the BSE traded in the green except realty, basic materials and consumer discretionary goods and services.

At 1.22 p.m., the S&P BSE Sensex traded 167.79 points up or 0.46 per cent at 36,362.89 after it opened higher.

It touched an intra-day high of 36,474.48 and a low of 36,216.41.

The broader Nifty advanced 41.30 points or 0.38 per cent at 10,891.10.

However, US-China trade tensions seemed to resurface after reports suggest that US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Washington was "miles and miles" from a trade deal with Beijing.

Financial markets across the globe have been struggling owing to the trade tensions between the world's largest economies. This was cited as one of the reasons by the International Monetary Fund while revising the global economic growth forecast.

Stock-wise, the top gainer was Yes Bank, up 6.78 per cent after the appointment of a much-awaited new MD-cum-CEO.

Other top gainers were Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Sun Phrama and Axis Bank.

In contrast, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Infosys and Tata Steel were the only losers among the 30 stocks on Sensex.