Nifty ends above 7,900-mark

Mumbai: The stock markets rose higher on the last day of December derivative series drawing strength from energy and index shares like HDFC and Infosys.

Analysts expect that the market will have good performance in the coming year 2016, unlike 2015 where the market's performance is pathetic, as it lost 5 per cent on Sensex and 4 per cent on Nifty. Interestingly, the broader markets outperformed with midcap index rising over 6 per cent.

Sensex closed higher by 158 points at 26,118 and Nifty ended up by 50 points at 7,946. The broader markets, though gained, but underperformed the index stocks with midcap and smallcap indices closed higher by 0.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

On sectoral front, good buying is seen in IT, Teck and oil stocks, while healthcare, consumer durables and banking counters ended in red. With the drug equivalent to Nexium relaunch, Dr Reddy's share closed down 1 per cent.

Cadila shares plummeted by 15 per cent as it has received USFDA warning about its Moraiya formulation facility. Aviation stocks rose with Jet Airways jumped 7 per cent, IndiGo rallied 4 per cent and SpiceJet gained 3 per cent.

The gainers: HDFC, up 2.39 per cent at Rs 1,262.65; Gail, up 2.18 per cent at Rs 375.40; Coal India, up 2.06 per cent at Rs 328.70; Bharti Airtel, up 2.00 per cent at Rs 339.90; and Infosys, up 1.70 per cent at Rs 1,104.55.

The losers: Axis Bank, down 1.24 per cent at Rs 449.50; Larsen and Toubro (L&T), down 0.67 per cent at Rs 1,275.65; ICICI Bank, down 0.63 per cent at Rs 261.45; State Bank of India (SBI), down 0.62 per cent at Rs 224.40; and Hero MotoCorp, down 0.60 per cent at Rs 2,695.25.