New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS): The Indian equity indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- settled marginally higher on Thursday.

Notably, with Thursday's marginal gains, indices traded on a positive note for fifth consecutive session.

Return of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) into the Indian equity segment likely supported the market sentiment.

On Thursday, the Sensex and Nifty settled at 61,235 points and 18,257 points, up 0.14 per cent and 0.25 per cent from their previous close, respectively.

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty metal and pharma rallied the most while Nifty realty and bank declined during the session, NSE data showed.

On the stocks front, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Sun Pharma, Coal India, L&T rose the most, rallying 6.3 per cent, 4.3 per cent, 3.6 per cent, 3.3 per cent, and 2.5 per cent, respectively.

Wipro, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Indusind Bank, on the other hand, declined the most during the session. "The domestic market traded between gains and losses weighing the initial positive earnings results and weak global cues. Globally, western markets traded lower due to 4-decade high inflation as the US consumer price index rose by 7 per cent YoY in December," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.