Anticipation of healthy quarterly earnings results and budgetary sops, coupled with a strengthened rupee, buoyed the Indian equities markets on Thursday.
However, negative European indices, and caution ahead of the release of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for December capped gains.
In addition, domestic pharma companies were spooked by US President Elect Donald Trump's comments on the global pharmaceutical sector's entry into the US market.
The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 26.55 points or 0.32 per cent to 8,407.20 points.
The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 27,171.66 points, closed at 27,247.16 points -- up 106.75 points or 0.39 per cent from the previous close at 27,140.41 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 27,278.93 points and a low of 27,166.69 points during the intra-day trade.
On the contrary, the BSE market breadth was tilted in favour of the bears -- with 1,599 declines and 1,167 advances.
On Wednesday, the benchmark indices surged on the back of positive global cues and higher crude oil prices.
The NSE Nifty rose by 92.05 points or 1.11 per cent to 8,380.65 points, while BSE Sensex was up 240.85 points or 0.90 per cent.
"Markets surged higher on Thursday to close with gains for the third consecutive session," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
"This was despite the fact that most of the major Asian markets have closed in the negative territory and the European indices too traded lower."
According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, bearish USD/INR futures prices supported the firm sentiments of Indian equities markets.
"IT stocks traded with mixed sentiments and witnessed good recovery from lower levels in the second half of the session," Desai said.
"Aviation and power stocks traded firm, while media-entertainment and cement stocks faced resistance at higher levels due to profit booking."
The Indian rupee strengthened by 24 paise to 68.09 against a US dollar from its previous close of 68.33 to a greenback.
In terms of investments, provisional data with exchanges showed that the FIIs sold stocks worth Rs 12.77 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) divested scrip worth Rs 110.08 crore.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE capital goods index augmented by 217.15 points, followed by the IT index, which rose by 190.81 points and the TECK (technology, media and entertainment) index edged up by 84.60 points.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE healthcare index receded by 110.99 points, the FMCG index fell by 79.81 points and the automobile index edged down by 41.09 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Thursday were: NTPC, up 5.69 per cent at Rs 173.75; Power Grid, up 4.14 per cent at Rs 197.60; Infosys, up 3.20 per cent at Rs 1,000.05; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), up 2.57 per cent at Rs 1,449.10; and Wipro, up 1.52 per cent at Rs 483.35.
Major Sensex losers were: Lupin, down 2.03 per cent at Rs 1,489.45; Hindustan Unilever (HUL), down 1.76 per cent at Rs 825.75; ITC, down 1.29 per cent at Rs 244.30; Coal India, down 1.28 per cent at Rs 312.60; and Dr. Reddy's Lab, down 1.19 per cent at Rs 3,011.20.
--IANS
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