The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 Indexes rose for a third session in a row led by gains in Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC and Axis Bank. However the gains were capped as HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, ITC and Power Grid came under selling pressure. The benchmarks opened on a positive note with the Sensex rising as much as 369 points and the Nifty 50 Index hitting an intraday high of 11,147 but came off highs in noon deals after oil & gas, metal and auto stocks came under selling pressure.

The Sensex rose 52 points or 0.14 per cent to close at 37,402 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced 0.06 per cent or 6 points to 11,054.

Twelve of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended higher led by the S&P BSE Consumer Durables Index's 1.6 per cent gain. S&P BSE Capital Goods, Industrials, Healthcare and Energy Indexes also rose between 0.5 and 1.2 per cent each.

On the other hand, S&P BSE Oil & Gas Index was top loser, down 0.6 per cent. Auto and Metal sector gauges also fell 0.6 and 0.3 per cent each respectively.

Mid- and small-cap shares largely outperformed their larger peers as the S&P BSE MidCap Index rose 0.2 per cent and the S&P BSE SmallCap Index advanced 0.5 per cent.

Sun Pharma was top gainer in the Nifty 50 basket of shares. The stock rose 2.7 per cent to close at Rs 426 after the company signed a long-term licensing deal to develop generic products in China. Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, Bharti Infratel, Titan, Hindalco, Wipro and Larsen & Toubro were also among the gainers.

On the flipside, Yes Bank was top loser, down 3.3 per cent to close at Rs 76.80. Grasim Industries, Indiabulls Housing Finance, GAIL, Coal India, State Bank of India, Eicher Motors and UPL were also among the losers.