Benchmark indices on Thursday continued their winning run for a third straight session. Buying was seen across sectors, barring IT and power.

At close, BSE Sensex was up 147.89 points, or 0.18% at 81,053.19, and the Nifty was up 41.30 points, or 0.17% at 24,811.50.

Notably, in the last six sessions of gains, the Nifty 50 has advanced 2.8%.

The market was driven by positive global cues and rising expectations that the US Federal Reserve may begin cutting interest rates in September.

On BSE, over 340 stocks hit their fresh 52-week highs in intraday trade. These included Ashok Leyland, HDFC AMC, HDFC Life, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, SBI Life, Persistent Systems and TVS Motor.

On Nifty, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Grasim, Infosys and HDFC Bank ended as the top gainers. TCS, Mahindra and Mahindra, NTPC, Tata Motors and ONGC closed as the top drags.

Among the sectors, power index was down 1%, while pharma, oil & gas, auto, IT ended marginally lower.

Bank, FMCG, metal, realty, telecom indexes were up 0.5-1.4%.

Nifty IT touched fresh high of 41,834 but ended marginally in red at 41,506.20.

The overall market capitalisation of the firms listed on the BSE rose to nearly Rs 460.5 lakh crore from nearly Rs 459.2 lakh crore in the previous session.

The broader indices extended the gaining momentum for the fifth straight session as the BSE midcap and smallcap indices rising 0.6% each.

Share price of Ola Electric Mobility fell 6% to Rs 130 in early trading, as investors sought to book partial profits after the stock doubled from its IPO price of Rs 76.

IREDA shares surged over 8% after the company said it is considering a fundraising proposal of up to Rs 4,500 crore.

Shares of BEML gained over a per cent after the company said it has signed an MoU with the Indian Navy.

PNB Housing Finance witnessed fall of 3% after a block deal worth as much as Rs 715.60 crore.

Shares of the operating company of IndiGo Airlines saw its shares surge over 4%. The surge comes after Jefferies and HSBC issued bullish calls, citing strong growth prospects across multiple fronts.

Although global factors shape the Indian stock market, the primary driver behind the domestic market’s gains has been the robust participation of retail investors, experts believed.

The annual Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole conference will start later on Thursday. Market participants will focus on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday to get further cues on the magnitude of a rate cut next month.