Indian benchmark equity indices closed higher on Thursday after a range-bound trading session, supported by easing crude oil prices, the Reserve Bank of India’s steady policy stance and selective buying in heavyweight, banking and energy stocks, market experts said.
The BSE Sensex settled at 78,954.76, up 373.76 points or 0.48 per cent, while the NSE Nifty ended at 24,636, gaining 11.35 points or 0.05 per cent.
Buying interest was seen in pharmaceuticals, healthcare, chemicals, realty, oil and gas, and select mid-cap stocks. Among sectoral indices, Nifty PSU Bank emerged as the top performer, rising more than 2 per cent, followed by Nifty Chemicals, which gained over 1 per cent.
On the BSE, SBI, Reliance Industries, BEL, Titan, Eternal, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever, Trent and ITC were among the top gainers, while Power Grid, TCS, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndiGo, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech and Axis Bank ended lower.
On the NSE, Reliance Industries, BEL, Eternal, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Unilever led the gains. Bajaj Auto, Power Grid, Bharti Airtel, TCS, ONGC, IndiGo, Kotak Mahindra Bank, SBI Life, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro and Bajaj Finance were among the major losers.
In the commodities market, Brent crude traded at around USD 79.50 per barrel, while WTI crude hovered near USD 75.18 per barrel. Gold was quoted at around USD 4,271.56.
