Equity indices marched higher for the third session on the trot on Thursday, propelled by Reliance Industries and financial stocks, amid a positive trend in global markets on prospects of a Brexit trade deal.


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A sharp jump in the rupee and persistent foreign fund inflows added to the momentum here, traders said.


The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 529.36 points or 1.14 per cent to close at 46,973.54. The broader NSE Nifty zoomed 148.15 points or 1.09 per cent to 13,749.25.


Axis Bank topped the Sensex gainers' chart, spurting 3.04 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, ONGC, Reliance Industries (RIL), HDFC, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance and Kotak Bank.


Index heavyweights RIL, HDFC and HDFC Bank accounted for over half of the Sensex's gains.


On the other hand, Infosys, Nestle India, IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy's, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finserv were among the main laggards, dropping up to 1.32 per cent.


During the holiday-truncated week, Sensex inched up 12.85 points or 0.02 per cent, while Nifty slipped 11.30 points or 0.08 per cent.


Markets will be closed on Friday on account of Christmas.


Global equities extended gains as Britain and European Union neared a Brexit deal ahead of the Christmas weekend, cheering participants.


"This has been a short but eventful week with wide gyration in stock prices. After the sharp correction seen on Monday, prices have recovered in the last three days. Monthly expiry has also contributed to the higher volatility. Nifty's closing near the previous week high indicates strong rollovers on the back of healthy FII flows seen this month.


"IT stocks have again come into limelight because of the large mega deals announced by Infosys and Wipro this week. This week has seen moderation in flows from both FIIs and DIIs. We can expect muted FII activity in the next week also due to year end phenomenon but expect activity to pick up sharply from the first week of January," said Rusmik Oza, Executive VP and Head of Fundamental Research at Kotak Securities.


Sector-wise, BSE energy, bankex, finance, oil and gas, metal and telecom indices rose up to 2.29 per cent, while IT, realty and teck closed in the red.


Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices advanced up to 0.59 per cent.


Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Seoul, Hong Kong and Tokyo ended on a positive note, while Shanghai finished with losses.


Stock exchanges in Europe were trading with gains in early deals.


Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.48 per cent to USD 51.04 per barrel.


The rupee appreciated by 21 paise to settle at 73.55 against the US dollar.


Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchased shares worth a net Rs 536.13 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data