Equity benchmark indices remained range-bound on Thursday but closed in the negative terrain due to lacklustre trading. The BSE S&P Sensex closed 95 points or 0.24% lower at 38,991 while the Nifty 50 inched up by less than one point or 0.01% at 11,536. Among stocks, ICICI Bank lost by 2.2% to close at Rs 383.90 per share. Axis Bank slipped by 1.8%, Kotak Mahindra Bank by 1.7% and State Bank of India by 1.3%. The other major losers were Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, ONGC and Britannia. However, Vodafone Idea spurted nearly 30% to Rs 12.88 per share after reports said the US wireless carrier Verizon and e-commerce giant Amazon may invest over four billion dollars in the beleaguered telco. Aviation stocks gained ground after the government permitted airlines to increase the number of passenger flights to 60% of their pre-COVID capacity. SpiceJet was up by 3.5% to Rs 52.65 per share while InterGlobe Aviation gained by 1.8% at Rs 1,270.95. Meanwhile, Asian equities traded strong amid the prospect of additional US stimulus. Japan Nikkei added gains of 0.94% and South Korea's Kospi advanced by 1.33%. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped by 0.45%.