The Nifty Bank rose 270 points to 57,784, outperforming the benchmark, while the Nifty Midcap index slipped 62 points to 64,101. Despite the midcap decline, overall market breadth favoured advances.
Financial stocks were among the key outperformers. Kotak Mahindra Bank extended its recent gains to close 4% higher, emerging as the top Nifty gainer. Insurance stocks also ended largely higher, with HDFC Life and SBI Life gaining more than 1% each.
Metal stocks provided another leg of support. Hindustan Zinc surged more than 6% after a positive brokerage note, while SAIL, Vedanta and NMDC gained between 3% and 6%.
UltraTech Cement rose around 2% following reports of a potential price increase.
IT stocks, however, closed off their highs as investors tracked global cues. Infosys emerged as the top Nifty loser.
Among individual stocks, Avenue Supermarts fell more than 2% after block deals involving over 1% of its equity changed hands. Premier Energies declined nearly 4% amid heavy volumes.
Varun Beverages and Jubilant FoodWorks slipped more than 3% each despite positive newsflow.
Defence stocks ended mixed, with Bharat Forge declining while Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders and Solar Industries India gained.
Meanwhile, DCB Bank rose more than 2% after sources said the lender was in talks with private equity investors for a potential capital infusion.
The session ended with the benchmarks unable to sustain early gains, leaving investors to weigh support from banks and metals against weakness in IT and select stock-specific names.