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Indian equity benchmarks ended marginally higher on Thursday, supported by gains in metal, banking and select infrastructure stocks, while FMCG, IT and auto shares remained under pressure.

The BSE Sensex rose 221.69 points, or 0.27 per cent, to close at 82,566.37. The index had opened higher and moved in a narrow range during the session. The Nifty 50 advanced 76.15 points, or 0.30 per cent, to settle at 25,418.90.

Among Sensex constituents, Tata Steel was the top gainer, rising 4.57 per cent. Larsen & Toubro climbed 3.58 per cent, while Axis Bank added 3.45 per cent. Eternal gained 3.00 per cent, NTPC rose 2.93 per cent, and Adani Ports advanced 2.49 per cent.

ICICI Bank ended 1.20 per cent higher, while Power Grid rose 0.73 per cent. Bharti Airtel added 0.50 per cent, and HDFC Bank gained 0.36 per cent. SBI and Bajaj Finance closed marginally higher.

On the downside, Asian Paints declined 3.71 per cent. Maruti Suzuki fell 2.71 per cent, while InterGlobe Aviation dropped 2.65 per cent. TCS slipped 1.87 per cent, and Bharat Electronics fell 1.73 per cent.

Mahindra & Mahindra lost 1.70 per cent. Hindustan Unilever declined 1.48 per cent, and Sun Pharma fell 1.31 per cent. Titan, Trent, UltraTech Cement and ITC also closed lower. Reliance Industries ended 0.53 per cent down. IT stocks remained weak, with Infosys declining 0.64 per cent and HCL Technologies falling 0.65 per cent.

The Nifty Microcap index declined 0.38 per cent, indicating selective selling in smaller stocks. Sectorally, metal stocks outperformed. The Nifty Metal index surged 3.07 per cent, supported by gains in steel and mining shares.

Banking and financial stocks also supported the market. The Nifty Bank index rose 0.60 per cent, while the Nifty Private Bank index gained 1.03 per cent. The Nifty Financial Services index advanced 0.64 per cent, and the Nifty Finserv 25 index added 0.54 per cent.

Oil and gas stocks closed higher, with the Nifty Oil and Gas index rising 0.78 per cent. Realty stocks also gained, with the Nifty Realty index up 0.67 per cent. On the other hand, FMCG stocks remained under pressure. The Nifty FMCG index declined 0.91 per cent. IT stocks also weakened, with the Nifty IT index falling 0.76 per cent.

Auto stocks saw selling pressure, with the Nifty Auto index down 0.68 per cent. Pharma stocks declined, with the Nifty Pharma index ending 0.81 per cent lower. PSU bank stocks also slipped, with the Nifty PSU Bank index falling 0.79 per cent. Healthcare, chemical and consumer durables indices also closed in the red.

Market breadth on the NSE was negative. Out of 3,306 stocks traded, 1,383 advanced, while 1,822 declined and 101 remained unchanged. As many as 104 stocks touched their 52-week highs during the session, while 225 stocks hit their 52-week lows.

A total of 103 stocks were locked in the upper circuit, while 67 stocks were in the lower circuit. The overall market capitalisation stood at Rs 457.25 lakh crore.