Stock market closed higher on Thursday extending their rebound for a third consecutive session. Optimism prevailed ahead of the Union Budget on Saturday and the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy meeting next week.

At close, the Sensex gained 0.3 per cent (226.85 points) to 76,759.81, while the Nifty rose 0.3 per cent (86.4 points) to 23,249.5.

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Throughout the trading day, Nifty reached a high of 23322.05 and a low of 23139.2 while the Sensex traded within the range of 76962.88 and 76401.13.

On Nifty, the gainers were Bharat Electronics (4.32 per cent), Power Grid Corporation of India (2.61 per cent), Hero Motocorp (2.59 per cent), Bharti Airtel (2.52 per cent), and Cipla (2.35 per cent).

On the losing side were Tata Motors (7.40 per cent), Adani Enterprises (2.85 per cent), Shriram Finance (2.75 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (2.52 per cent), and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (1.81 per cent).

Bank Nifty concluded at 49165.95, recording an intraday high of 49426.2 and a low of 49031.8.

Bharti Airtel, Power Grid Corporation of India, Bajaj Finance, Nestle India, Mahindra & Mahindra were some of the gainers on Sensex while Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Wipro were on the losing side.

Among the sectors, with Nifty FMCG, Healthcare, Financial Services, Pharma, and OMCs indices ended higher by up to 1.55 per cent. Nifty IT index ended lower by 1.14 per cent dragged down by Coforge and Mphasis.

Nifty Auto, Metal, PSU Bank, and Consumer Durables indices ended down by up to 1.84 per cent.

Among the broader markets, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 0.12 per cent, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index edged lower by a marginal 0.01 per cent. The fear index, India VIX, which measures volatility in the markets, ended up 6.70 per cent at 17.39 points.

Among the individual performers, SpiceJet shares gained over 3 per cent after the airline was assigned a ‘BB-‘ rating with a stable outlook by CARE Ratings.

Bajaj Finance shares climbed 6 per cent, reaching a record high of Rs 8,250.65.Shares of Suzlon Energy rose by about 5 per cent, extending gains for a third consecutive day. Kotak Mahindra Bank shares have declined following a senior retail banking executive has resigned.

On the global front, European stocks and US futures advanced as investors awaited Apple Inc.’s earnings and a potential European Central Bank (ECB) rate cut.

The Stoxx 600 rose 0.4 per cent, Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.8 per cent, and S&P 500 contracts gained 0.5 per cent.