Mumbai, Dec 27 : The domestic benchmark indices ended with gains on Friday as buying was seen in pharma, auto, IT, financial service, FMCG, media, and private bank sectors on Nifty. Sensex ended at 78,699.07, up by 226.59 points or 0.29 per cent and Nifty settled at 23,813.40, up by 63.20 points or 0.27 per cent. Nifty Bank ended at 51,311.30, up by 140.60 points, or 0.27 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 56,979.80 after dropping 145.90 points, or 0.26 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 18,755.85, after rising 27.20 points, or 0.15 per cent.On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 1,946 shares ended in green and 2,026 shares in red, whereas there was no change in 115 shares. According to experts, "The Christmas week trading ended on a subdued note; a lack of major triggers and caution ahead of the swearing in of the US Republican Party administration continued to impact the sentiment." "While the rupee dropped to a new low, weighed down by the expectation of fewer Fed rate cuts, a widening trade deficit, and weak economic growth," they added.

On the sectoral front, selling was seen in the PSU Bank, Metal, Realty, Energy, Infra and Commodities sectors on Nifty. In the Sensex pack, M&M, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, Nestle India, ICICI Bank and Asian Paints were the top gainers. SBI, Tata Steel, Zomato, UltraTech Cement, HCL Tech, L&T, Titan, TCS and Power Grid were the top losers.

The Indian rupee closed at a new low of 85.54 per dollar. The previous close of the Indian currency was 85.26. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 2,376.67 crore on December 26, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 3,336.16 crore on the same day.

/IANS