Nifty gained for the third session today amid firm buying in auto, metal, realty, banking and infra stocks that lifted the National Stock Exchange index by 23.35 points.
Buying by FIIs along with improvement in manufacturing sector growth in key HSBC data survey as well as an increase in auto sales propelled today's trade.
The broader markets also supported the sentiment as shares of mid-cap and small-cap companies witnessed good buying.
However, IT and pharma counters incurred profit-booking, while energy shares fell on hike in petrol and diesel prices by the government.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,288.16 crore yesterday, as per the provisional data from the stock exchanges.
The 50-share index opened higher at 7,629.50 and hovered between a high of 7,649.50 and a low of 7,618.15 before concluding at 7,634.70, up 23.35 points, or 0.31 per cent, over its last close.
Other Asian markets ended mixed.
Metal major Hindalco rallied by 6.73 per cent on reports of stocks upgrade from a rating agency, while Maruti surged 5.92 per cent, Tata-Motor by 4.52 percent, M&M by 4.11 per cent and Tata Steel by 2.32 per cent.
Other gainers were Hindustan Unilever, L&T, ICICI Bank, Ambuja Cement and UltraTech Cement.
The laggards included Tech Mahindra that was down by two per cent, BPCL by 1.80 per cent, Wipro by 1.50 per cent and TCS by 1.43 per cent.
Turnover in the cash segment declined to Rs 16,601.08 crore from Rs 17,339.57 crore yesterday. A total of 10,261.23 lakh shares changed hands in 68,61,777 trades, while the market capitalisation stood at Rs 88,85,201 crore.
