Indian equity benchmarks ended a range-bound session marginally higher on Thursday, November 12. The BSE Sensex settled at 81,911.01, up 31.61 points or 0.04 per cent, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 44.30 points or 0.18 per cent to close at 25,299.35, extending the winning run to a third consecutive session.

Source: Upstox market wrap, Nov 12

The Sensex moved between an intraday high of 82,325.61 and a low of 81,576.15, and the Nifty between 25,384.80 and 25,142.95, as buying in banking and financial services stocks was offset by selling in autos and consumer goods, according to the closing reports.

Source: DSIJ Closing Bell, Nov 12

Sectorally, Nifty Realty led the gainers with a 4.51 per cent jump, followed by Nifty Media (up 2.46 per cent) and Nifty PSU Bank (up 1.51 per cent). On the losing side, Nifty Auto fell 1.02 per cent, Nifty FMCG 0.74 per cent, Nifty IT 0.41 per cent and Nifty Pharma 0.35 per cent.

The broader market outperformed the benchmarks for a second straight session: the Nifty Smallcap 100 surged 1.12 per cent to 19,706.75 and the Nifty Midcap 100 gained 0.85 per cent to close at 62,039. On the Nifty 50, HDFC Life (up 4.23 per cent), Shriram Finance (3.58 per cent) and Bajaj Finance (3.36 per cent) were among the top gainers, while Nestle India (down 2.1 per cent) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.9 per cent) lagged. Market breadth on the NSE favoured advances, with 2,080 stocks rising against 1,537 declines, and India VIX eased 5.38 per cent to 16.61.

Exchange data cited in the reports showed foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 12,563.33 crore net on Wednesday, November 11, while domestic institutional investors sold Rs 8,434.53 crore net. What happens next: traders are awaiting India's October retail inflation data, released by the statistics ministry on Thursday evening, for cues on the Reserve Bank of India's December policy path.