Mumbai, Aug 20 (IANS): India equity indices closed in the green on Tuesday following positive sentiments in the markets.

At closing, Sensex was at 80,802, up 378 points or 0.47 per cent and Nifty was at 24,698, up 126 points or 0.51 per cent.

Banking stocks led the market on Tuesday. Nifty Bank closed at 50,803, up 434 points or 0.86 per cent.

In the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, Wipro, NTPC, SBI and HCL tech were major gainers. Bharti Airtel, ITC, JSW Steel, and Ultratech Cement were the major losers.

Among NSE sectoral Indices, IT, PSU Bank, fin service, pharma, metal, energy, infra and Pvt Bank were the major gainers.

However, FMCG and media were major laggards.

India VIX was down by 3.49 per cent at 13.82 points, which shows that the market remains stable.

According to the market experts, "The domestic market started the session with a strong surge, buoyed by positive global sentiment amidst Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks and diminishing US recession fears due to recent favourable data."

"Concurrently, easing geopolitical risks and weak China demand have led to a decline in crude prices, benefiting the domestic economy," they added.

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying as they bought equities worth Rs 2,667 crore on August 19, while domestic institutional investors also bought equities worth Rs 1,802 crore on the same day.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst of LKP Securities, said: "The Nifty moved above 24,700 after sustaining above 24,600. The trend is likely to remain strong as long as it stays above the 24,600-24,650 range. A decisive fall below 24,600 might trigger a reversal of the current uptrend. On the higher end, the Nifty might move towards 24,840-24,860."

India equity benchmarks opened in the green too. At 9:50 a.m., Sensex was 364 points or 0.44 per cent at 80,774 and Nifty was 108 points or 0.44 per cent at 24,683.