Here's how the day came to a close at Dalal Street

The Nifty gained for the second day as traders used the early morning dips to buy into blue chips even as they became cautious of the strong run up in mid cap companies.

The Nifty rose 21 points to end the day at 8,588 on Thursday. Its Advance-Decline ratio was 30/20 with Larsen, Dr. Reddy's, Kotak Bank and Punjab National Bank leading the list of gainers. Tech Mahindra, ITC and Coal India saw their stock prices ending below Wednesday's close. State Bank of India was the most active counter on the Nifty, trading 1.53 crore shares.

Mid-priced stocks saw active demand. There was no let up in buying into CNX Nifty Junior, CNX 100, CNX 200 and CNX 500 Indices, although the gains were muted.

The Bank Nifty added 100 points to 19,029 as traders remained buyers on the entire banking sector but they preferred PSU lenders over their private counterparts. The CNX PSU bank Index was the top gainer, up 0.7 percent. The trend in other sectoral indices weakened. CNX Metals, CNX IT, CNX Media and CNX FMCG edged lower.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex rose 75 points to end the day at 28,298 points. Lupin, Dr. Reddy's, Tata Motors and TCS were the top gainers whereas ITC, Coal India and Reliance Industries lost ground. As a consequence, the Advance-Decline Ratio on the Sensex stood at 17/13. Tata Motors was the top traded counter with 12.54 lakh shares changing hands on the BSE.

Bears dominated the wider market today with just 1,372 stocks gaining ground versus 1,551 fell below Wednesday's closing prices.

The trend was positive in the derivatives space with Nifty Futures closing above the 8,600-point mark. Pharma, Power, Realty and Infrastructure sectors were the major gainers among 18 industries in both price and open interest. The Advance-Decline Ratio was a strong 83/76 in the futures and Options market.

Investors cheered earnings from Cummins, JP Power, Bajaj Electricals, Escorts and 3M India whereas they were disappointed by Motherson Sumi, Accelya Kale and Arvind Ltd.

Image credit: Indiatimes