The benchmark indices settled higher for the sixth straight day on Thursday, led by buying in information technology (IT) counters and HDFC Bank.
IT stocks rallied in trade after Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reported a strong set of numbers for the quarter ended September 2020 (Q2FY21). The TCS board has also approved a buyback of Rs 16,000 crore to buy 53.3 million shares at Rs 3,000 per share.
Among headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex ended 304 points, or 0.76 per cent higher at 40,183 levels while NSE's Nifty added 96 points, or 0.82 per cent to settle at 11,835 levels.
Among sectoral indices, barring Nifty Media and Nifty FMCG, all other indices ended in the green. The Nifty IT index rallied over 3 per cent to 21,697 levels while Nifty Pharma jumped 2.47 per cent.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained 0.29 per cent higher at 14,827 and the S&P BSE SmallCap settled 0.26 per cent lower at 15,010 levels.
Global markets
A gauge of Asian shares climbed to a one-month high on Thursday on renewed hopes for more US stimulus, while investors decided a key US political debate ahead of November elections had not altered the odds much.
In Europe, too, stocks inched higher, joining a global rally.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 per cent for its fourth straight session of gains to a level not seen since early September.
In commodities, oil rose above $42 a barrel, supported by output shutdowns in the US Gulf of Mexico and the prospect of more supply losses in Norway, as well as by hopes for some US coronavirus relief aid.
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