The benchmark BSE Sensex gained 79.39 points to close at 27,915.90, while the Nifty ended flat at 8,615.25 helped by a recovery in financials towards the second half of the trading session.

Barring FMCG and healthcare, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the red. Among them, auto index fell the most by 1.36 per cent, consumer durables 1.01 per cent, IT 0.78 per cent and metal 0.76 per cent. On the other hand, FMCG index was up 0.55 per cent and healthcare 0.12 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were HDFC (+3.55%), Dr Reddy's (+2.33%), ICICI Bank (+1.94%), ITC (+1.84%) and Bharti Airtel (+1.57%), while the major losers were Asian Paints (-3.24%), Hero MotoCorp (-3.12%), Wipro (-2.06%), Bajaj Auto (-1.93%) and Lupin (-1.56%).

Global markets

Reassuring results from some of Europe's biggest banks gave financials a boost on Thursday and helped offset weakness in oil-related stocks, while higher bond yields underpinned the dollar.

Asian shares edged down on Thursday after disappointing earnings from technology giant Apple dragged on Wall Street, while the dollar remained shy of this week’s nearly nine-month highs.

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