Indian benchmark indices on Tuesday ended higher as a result of sustained buying by domestic institutional investors and positive Asian cues. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex closed 77.24 points higher at 31,924.21, and the National Stock Exchange Nifty ended 28.20 points up at 10,016.95.

There was uninterrupted buying by domestic financial institutions as companies are expected to start reporting their second-quarter earnings this week. These quarterly reports affect stocks and help investors assess whether buying shares of a company would be profitable.

During intra-day trade, Sensex had hit 31,994.77, just six points shy of the 32,000 mark. Nifty had reached a high of 10,034 points after opening at 10,002.30.

The top five gainers on Sensex were Lupin, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, Coal India and Infosys. The major losers on the BSE were ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, ITC and Sun Pharma. United Phosphorus Ltd was the best performer on the NSE, gaining 3.89%, followed by Lupin, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid and IndusInd Bank. Indian Oil Corporation, Eicher Motors, Vedanta, Hindustan Unilever and Ambuja Cement made the biggest losses on Nifty.

Other Asian shares gained on Tuesday, shrugging off losses on Wall Street. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.4% in early trade.