Indian stock markets posted gains on Thursday, ending a three-day losing streak. Market sentiments were buoyed by the passage of the Finance Bill 2016 in the Lower House (Lok Sabha). The S&P BSE Sensex gained 160 points to close at 25,262 while the NSE Nifty ended the day 29 points higher at 7,735.
Top Sensex gainers included BHEL, HDFC, Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro, while stocks that dragged the Sensex down were Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel and Asian Ports.
On the NSE, top Nifty gainers were Tech Mahindra, BHEL and HDFC.
Among BSE500 companies, V-Guard Industries hit a 52-week high and ended the day with a 20 percent gain at Rs. 1,186.90. Other big gainers were Carborundum Universal and Castrol India.
Some of the prominent losers were Amtek Auto, Godfrey Phillips, Idea Cellular and Prestige Estates.
During the debate on the Finance Bill 2016, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ruled out rolling back the 1 percent excise duty levied on jewellery sales, except silver.
Among the sectoral indices on the NSE, bank, auto, FMCG and information technology, metal, pharma and PSU bank gained.
On the BSE, telecom and consumer goods were two promiment indices that ended in the red.
Eicher Motors, the maker of Royal Enfield motorcycle, announced its results during the day. The company's net profit and income from operations for the fourth quarter ended March 2016 spurted.
The company also reported improvement in operating margins, besides announcing Rs. 1,000 crore investment during the current fiscal to enhance production capacity and widen its marketing network.
Godrej Properties Limited also declared its results on Thursday. Fourth-quarter consolidated net profit was down sharply to Rs. 18 crore from Rs. 51 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, as income declined to Rs. 533 crore from Rs. 718 crore.
