Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex trimmed gains in afternoon trade on December 23 yet managed to close the day in firm green, helped by a rebound in heavyweights #HDFCBank #RelianceIndustries #ICICIBank , finding some respite from last week's selling pressure that saw key indices plunge 5% to their worst week in over 2 years.

At close, the Sensex was up 498.58 points or 0.64 percent at 78,540.17, and the Nifty was up 165.95 points or 0.70 percent at 23,753.45. About 1565 shares advanced, 2348 shares declined, and 134 shares unchanged.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto buckled under selling pressure, becoming the only sector to trade in the red. Nifty IT, which had gained 1 percent in the morning, pared its gains to end at the flatline. Nifty Bank, Metal, and Realty also trimmed their advances, trading up in the range 0.8-1.5% . Banking giants #HDFCBank #ICICIBank #SBI , and #AxisBank supported the sector, while the metal pack saw gains of 1-2% in stocks like #JSWSteel #tatasteel #CoalIndia, and #Vedanta .

The #FMCG index, which has fallen 16% in the past three months, gained momentum to end 1% higher.

The mid and small-cap indices showcased a mixed trend. While mid-cap was up just 0.33 percent, smallcap index fell 0.2 percent. Over the past three months, both indices have shown resilience, slipping just 5 percent each, compared to the Nifty's sharper 9 percent decline during the same period.