BENGALURU, Feb 23 (Reuters) - India's blue-chip index Nifty 50 index advanced to a new record high for the fifth consecutive session on Friday, aided by financials and information technology stocks.

The Nifty 50 rose 0.36% to an all-time high of 22,297.50 in early trade, and was last up 0.19%. The BSE Sensex rose 0.18% to 73,288.14 as of 10:24 a.m. IST.

Both indexes have gained about 1% in the week so far.

Meanwhile, the more domestically-focussed small- and mid-caps added about 0.4% each.

"Indian equity markets will continue to do well due to underlying strength in the economy, acceleration of business activity, strong corporate profitability and sustained domestic inflows," said Pankaj Murarka, director and chief investment officer at Renaissance Investment Managers.

Nine of the 13 major sectors logged gains. IT stocks rose about 0.4%, extending gains for the second session and recouping a 3% drop in the first three sessions of the week.

Financial services, which shed 0.7% over the previous two sessions, climbed around 0.3%, shrugging off concerns over sustained growth and profitability in the sector.

Meanwhile, oil and gas index lost 0.4% as oil marketing companies Bharat Petroleum Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Indian Oil Corp extended losses for the third session.

Consumer goods stocks were down 0.25%, dragged by a 0.5% drop in ITC after smaller rival Prataap Snacks denied reports of negotiations for a stake sale. Prataap shares fell over 3%.

The surge in domestic equities reflects a broader global rally, including in the United States, Europe and Japan, which has been led by tech stocks on the back of upbeat earnings and forecast by U.S. chipmaker Nvidia. (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Varun H K)