Indian shares closed stronger on Thursday, bolstered by gains in banking stocks as most sectors ended in positive territory on the day of expiry of March derivatives contracts.

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“Most banks have given good returns for the month, they have given the best return for derivatives settlement, short-covering is helping in the last moment,” Reuters quoted Mumbai-based AK Prabhakar, head of research, IDBI Capital.

The benchmark BSE Sensex closed 1.08 percent firmer at 38,545.72, marking its best close since September 3, 2018. The broader NSE Nifty ended 1.09 percent higher at 11,570, posting its strongest close since August 31, 2018.

Nifty PSU banks index settled 3.62 percent higher and added 21.2 percent so far this month.

Shares of HCL Technologies closed 4 percent higher as Bank of America-Merrill Lynch reportedly upgraded its rating on the shares of the company to "buy" from "neutral", and raised its target price on the stock by nearly 18 percent to Rs 1,250.

Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance, up 8.1 percent, were the top gainer on the Nifty 50, while those of Oil & Natural Gas Corp were the worst hit, down 2.6 percent.

Most Asian indices ended lower as the fall in sovereign bond yields across major developed economies and accommodative stances by central banks led to fears that the slowdown in global growth could turn out to be worse than earlier expected.

Japan's Nikkei was the worst hit as the yen rose against the dollar, weighing on shares of exporters. The index fell 1.61 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended with minor gains, rising 0.16 perent. Shanghai Composite ended almost a percent lower.

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-with inputs from agencies

First Published:Mar 28, 2019 4:11 PM IST