Benchmark indices managed to close higher today as monthly derivatives expired amid a largely weak trend in global markets. Sensex ended 97 points higher at 51,115 and Nifty rose 36 points to 15,337. This is the 50 stock index's highest close ever.
SBI was the top Sensex gainer jumping around 3 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement and PowerGrid.
On the other hand, HDFC, Bajaj Finance, ONGC and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards.
Among 30 Sensex stocks, 19 ended in green. Market breadth was positive with 1,753 shares closing higher against 1,379 ending in red.
Market cap of BSE-listed firms stood at Rs 220.74 lakh crore.
BSE mid cap and small cap indices ended 116 points and 78 points, respectively.
Banking stocks led the gains with BSE bankex rising 469 points to 39,856. BSE consumer durables index rose 347 points to 33,419.
BSE IT index climbed 225 points to 27,701.
Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities said, "The short-term trend of Nifty continues to be positive with range bound action. The emergence of volatility near the hurdle and the overall chart pattern could hint at a possibility of minor reversal around 15,400-15,500 levels in the next couple of sessions. On the other side, a decisive move above 15,500 is likely to negate this bearish bet. Immediate support is placed at 15250 levels."
Meanwhile, the rupee closed 17 paise higher to end at 72.60 against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking positive domestic equities.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 72.75 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 72.53 and a low of 72.76.
Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities said, "As the market has created a long legged doji, the Nifty will be even more volatile. 15250/50900 /15100/50500 would be an excellent support in the coming expiry. If 15430/51500 is easily crossed then we can see the level of 16000/53000 (positional target) in the coming expiry. In that comparison, Bank-Nifty can show the level of 36500."