MUMBAI:  India's benchmark indices closed in the green on Thursday following a rally in metal and banking stocks.

At closing, Sensex settled at 77,478, up 141 points or 0.18 per cent, and Nifty was up 51 points or 0.22 per cent, at 23,567.

Banking stocks were also up during the day. Nifty Bank closed at 51,783, up 385 points or 0.75 per cent.

Buying was seen in midcap and smallcap stocks on Thursday. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was up 522 points or 0.95 per cent at 55,473 while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index was up 110 points or 0.61 per cent at 18,266.

JSW Steel, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Reliance, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, and HUL were the top gainers on the day while M&M, Sun Pharma, NTPC, SBI, Wipro, and Bharti Airtel were the top losers.

Among the sector indices, Metal, Banks, Realty and FMCG were major gainers. Auto, pharma, and PSU Bank were major losers.

According to market experts, "Despite experiencing significant volatility, the domestic market concluded the day positively. In the near term, market attention is expected to centre around the upcoming Union budget and the progress of the monsoon."

"On the global front, the decline in US bond yields has facilitated robust FII inflows in recent days. The fertilizer stocks exhibited good momentum, driven by the proposed removal of GST & hike in MSP," analysts said.