The benchmark index continued to remain firm and ended with modest gain for the sixth straight sessions. The Sensex advanced 47 points to finish at 16,264 after trading in narrow range of 16,337 and 16,130. The Nifty added 10 points to end at 4,829. Buying was witnessed in banking, IT and healthcare stocks. The market breadth was negative for the second trading sessions and the total traded turnover was lower at Rs 84,413 cr. as against Rs 1,01,849 cr. The Sept Nifty future ended with 18 points premium at 4847. For the week, the Sensex jumped 3.7 % and Nifty jumped 3.2% this week. For the week the oil & gas index were up 5.6% and banking, metals were up 5% each.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) number for the month of July has come in at 6.8% versus 8.2% month-on-month and 6.4% year-on-year basis.

The BSE bankex rose 1.5 %. IndusInd Bank and Allahabad Bank were the biggest gainers in the banking space. The stocks rose over 6 % each. ICICI Bank and SBI were up 2-2.5%.

The IT index gained 1.1 %. In the IT pack, Mphasis, Wipro and Infosys were up over 1 % each.

The realty index on the BSE fell 1.6 %, with Sobha Developers and Peninsula Land shedding more than 3 % each. DLF was down 2.47% and Unitech down 1.8%

Pharma stocks like Apollo Hospital surged 5% and Ranbaxy Labs was up 4%. Zandu Pharma was up 20% at 10,807 and Amrutanjan up 20% at 508.

In the metal pack, Jindal Steel and Sterlite Industries were down 2.7% each. However, Hindalco shot up 6% and NALCO was up 1.20%.

In the Sensex pack, Hindalco was the top gainer. The stock jumped nearly 6 % to Rs 124. ICICI Bank and SBI gained more than 2 % each.

Sterlite Ind, HUL and DLF were the major losers, down over 2.3 % each.