Stock market highlights: A solid trading session saw a relatively weak close as fag-end selling in banking stocks weighed on the bourses. The benchmarks, however, settled higher for a second consecutive session.

The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 306.5 points, or 0.47 per cent, to end at 65,982.5 after hitting an intraday high of 66,358. The Nifty50, meanwhile, closed below the 19,800-mark at 19,762.5, higher by 87 points or 0.44 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 19,875.

Hero MotoCorp, Tech M, HCL Tech, Tech M, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Dr Reddy's Labs, LTIMindtree, Apollo Hospitals, M&M, and Bajaj Finance gained between 2 per cent and 3.3 per cent, NTPC, BPCL, Wipro, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Titan, ONGC, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, Divis Labs, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and Adani Ports rose in the range of 0.5 per cent to 1.9 per cent. 

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices closed 0.5 per cent higher each.

Among sectors, the Nifty PSU Bank index fell 0.24 per cent, the Nifty FMCG 0.15 per cent, and the Nifty Bank 0.09 per cent. On the upside, the Nifty IT index rallied 2.7 per cent, follwoed by the Nifty Pharma, Media, and Metal indices (up 0.8 per cent each).