Mumbai: The Sensex added 31.61 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 81,911.01. The Nifty 50 gained 44.30 points, or 0.18 percent, to settle at 25,299.35, after touching an intraday high of 25,384.80.
The Sensex traded between 81,576.15 and 82,325.61 during the session, ending well below its intraday high despite retaining its gains.
The Nifty Midcap index gained 520 points to finish at 62,039. Market breadth was evenly split, with an advance-decline ratio of 1:1.
Banks lead gains
The Nifty Bank climbed 726 points, or 1.2 percent, to 61,518.5, outpacing both benchmark indices. Every constituent of the banking index closed higher, with ICICI Bank among the leading Sensex gainers.
Foreign buying supports financials
Buying by foreign institutional investors supported financial stocks. Bajaj Finance rose more than 3 percent after launching its qualified institutional placement. Shriram Finance and Bajaj Finserv also ranked among the top Sensex gainers.
Capital market shares advance
Capital market stocks extended their gains. Unlisted shares of the National Stock Exchange rose more than 2 percent during the session.
Insurers rise on business data
Insurance stocks largely ended higher after the release of monthly business figures. HDFC Life led gains on the Nifty 50.
Payment stocks rally
Pine Labs and Paytm climbed more than 7 percent each. Elsewhere, Godrej Industries surged 11 percent after its subsidiary secured ₹2,500 crore from Temasek, while Kalyan Jewellers took its gains for the week to more than 20 percent.
Page Industries fell 13 percent after reporting its second-quarter results. Hindustan Aeronautics and Bharat Dynamics declined up to 4 percent amid margin pressure in their quarterly results.
Max Healthcare and Hindalco were among the other leading Sensex gainers. ONGC, Hindustan Aeronautics, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nestlé India, Power Grid and Tata Consultancy Services were among the biggest laggards.
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