Sensex, Nifty close marginally higher; pharma stocks rally

The Sensex closed marginally higher on Thursday aided by pharma sector stocks and Infosys which rose on reports Nandan Nilekani is likely to return to the firm's board.

While the Sensex rose 0.09 percent or 28.05 points to 31,596 level, the NSE Nifty ended 0.05 percent or 4.55 points higher at 9857.05 level.

Pharma stocks led the gains on the 30-stock Sensex.

Lupin (3.87 percent), Sun Pharma (3.10 percent), Dr Reddy's (2.88 percent) and Cipla (2.50 percent) were the top gainers on the index.

The BSE healthcare index rose 2.53 percent or 326 points to 13,226 level..

Infosys closed 2.01 percent or 18 points higher at 912.50 level amid reports that co-founder Nandan Nilekani is set to rejoin the board after former CEO and MD Vishal Sikka put in his papers on August 18, 2017.

Infosys was also the second-most traded stock in terms of total turnover with Rs 11886 crore worth shares traded on the BSE.

Top volume grosser on the BSE was Kajaria Ceramics with shares worth Rs 13,615 lakh traded on the BSE.

The stock was also the top gainer logging 8.16 percent or 53.10 points rise on the BSE.

Stock of market heavyweight Reliance Industries closed 0.88 percent or 14 points lower at 1,567 level few hours ahead of the bookings of Jio Phone was about to commence.

Shares of liquor stocks surged after the Supreme Court clarified that the liquor ban on highways did not apply to licensed establishments falling within municipal areas.

Globus Spirits (11.26 percent ),  Pincon Spirit (10 percent),  Tilaknagar Industries (1.93 percent) and  United Spirits (3.89 percent) gained on the court's clarification.

Market breadth was positive with 1432 stocks closing higher against 1126 falling on the BSE. 149 stocks remained unchanged.

Global markets

In early trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to 7,408.39. France's CAC 40 gained 0.4 percent to 5,133.54 and Germany's DAX advanced 0.3 percent to 12,214.81. Futures augured a lukewarm start on Wall Street. S&P futures added less than 0.1 percent while Dow futures advanced 0.1 percent.

ASIA'S DAY: Asian markets finished mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4 percent to 19,353.77 but South Korea's Kospi rose 0.4 percent to 2,375.84. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 0.4 percent to 27,518.60 while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.5 percent to 3,271.51. Australia's S&P ASX 200 added 0.1 percent to 5,745.50. Stocks in Southeast Asia were mixed.