A smart rally in banking counters drove the benchmark equity indices Nifty 50 and Sensex higher by half a percent in the afternoon session on October 10, with the indices set to settle the week with gains of 1.5 percent each.

At close, the Sensex was up 299.14 points or 0.36 percent at 82,471.24, and the Nifty was up 97.60 points or 0.39 percent at 25,279.40. About 2202 shares advanced, 1587 shares declined, and 127 shares unchanged.

On the sectoral front, banking stocks drove the gains. SBI, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank were the top contributors to rise in the benchmark indices, while the Bank Nifty gained rose around 0.8 percent. The Nifty Private Bank index was nearly one percent higher, while Nifty PSU Bank index jumped almost two percent.

Not just banking, but the FMCG and a

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