Indian stock markets ended a flat Thursday on a higher note, with the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex rising 155.47 points to close at 26,366.15 and the National Stock Exchange Nifty ending 68.75 points higher at 8,103.60. An afternoon surge in both benchmark indices was led by buying in automobile, energy, metal and Information Technology stocks, NDTV reported.

Companies such as Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Eicher Motors and Maruti Suzuki rose by 2%. Grasim Industries was the biggest gainer on the Nifty, rising 3.95%, with Yes Bank’s share price value rising by 3% as well. The Nifty auto and energy sub-indices also ended 1.42% and 1.54% higher.

Market sentiment was also positively impacted by the rollovers (extensions) of futures contracts beyond December. Anand Rathi official Chandan Taparia said the rollover rate to January stood at 69% as against the average rate of 49% in the last three months, Business Standard reported. Deputy Vice-President at Kotak Securities Sahaj Agarwal said the Nifty was expected to “trade with a positive bias in the near term”. “We expect the index to trade in the range of 7,900-8,500,” he said.

After sharp falls in Indian stocks on Monday, analysts said markets were likely to remain dull this week, keeping the year-end holidays in mind. However, bourses rebounded on Tuesday, with the Sensex gaining 406.34 points and the Nifty ending 124.60 points higher. Markets then ended on a flat note on Wednesday despite early gains on benchmark indices.