Strong buying activity in banking, automobile and FMCG stocks lifted the Indian equity markets for the second consecutive session on Thursday, despite global cues remaining broadly negative.
However, the key indices pared some gains and fell from their day's highs as investors booked profits during the second half of the trade session.
The wider Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 9,674.55 points -- up 36.95 points or 0.38 per cent -- after touching an intra-day high of 9,700.70 points.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 31,298.42 points, closed at 31,369.34 points -- up 123.78 points, or 0.40 per cent, from its previous close at 31,245.56 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 31,460.70 points and a low of 31,264.86 points during the intra-day trade.
The BSE market breadth was bullish -- with 1,541 advances and 1,180 declines.
The broader market indices underperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE mid-cap was up by 0.30 per cent and the small-cap index by 0.31 per cent.
"Markets rallied on Thursday after breaking out of the 9,651 resistance. A sell-off from the highs due to global weakness curbed the gains," Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
"Major Asian markets have ended on a negative note, barring the Shanghai and Jakarta indices. European indices like FTSE 100, CAC 40 and DAX traded lower," Jasani added.
The rupee closed on a flat note at 64.78 to a US dollar.
In investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold stocks worth Rs 15.29 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought scrips worth Rs 315.95 crore.
"The equity markets gained in the first half, but in the later session, profit booking was seen and market gave up some of the gains. Market turnover was on the higher side," said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls.
"Banking stocks saw good surge today on the back of weekly Bank Nifty expiry," he added.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE banking index rose by 119.96 points, the automobile index by 88.42 points and the FMCG index by 80.35 points.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE consumer durables index fell by 51.76 points, the oil and gas index by 51.07 points and the IT index by 25.78 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Thursday were: State Bank of India, up 2.15 per cent at Rs 280.90; ITC, up 1.72 per cent at Rs 336.75; Coal India, up 1.52 per cent at Rs 251.25; Bharti Airtel, up 1.36 per cent at Rs 381.40; and Maruti Suzuki, up 1.33 per cent at Rs 7,469.20.
Major Sensex losers were: Bajaj Auto, down 1.52 per cent at Rs 2,729.60; Sun Pharma, down 1.04 per cent at Rs 544.90; Axis Bank, down 0.81 per cent at Rs 509.65; ONGC, down 0.77 at Rs 161.40; and Mahindra and Mahindra, down 0.59 per cent at Rs 1,376.85.
--IANS
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