The equity benchmark indices ended Tuesday's choppy session on a positive note paced by gains in pharma, metal and FMCG shares.

However, selling pressure in banking shares capped the gains.

The benchmark indices had bounced back in the early hours of trade after the sharp selloff in the previous session, but were unable to sustain most of the gains by the end of the trade.

The Sensex traded in a band of 645 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 14,779.10 and low of 14,573.90.

The Sensex ended 42 points or 0.09 per cent to close at 49,201 and Nifty 50 index advanced 45 points or 0.31 per cent to close at 14,683.Eight of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher, led by the Nifty Pharma index's 1.8 per cent gain.Metal, FMCG and real estate shares also witnessed buying interest.On the other hand, Nifty Bank, Private Bank and Media indices ended with a negative bias.Broader markets outperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indexes rose over 1 per cent each.Adani Ports was top Nifty gainer; the stock surged 14.5 per cent to close at an all-time high of Rs 850 after the company informed the exchanges that it handled cargo volume of 73 million metric tonnes, registering a 27 per cent year-on-year growth.

Overall, in fiscal 2020-21, Adani Ports handled cargo volume of 247 million metric tonnes, showing an 11 per cent year-on-year growth.Tata Consumer Products, Asian Paints, JSW Steel, SBI Life, HDFC Life, UPL, Divi's Labs, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Labs, Hindustan Unilever and HDFC also rose 1-4 per cent each.On the flip side, Power Grid, Eicher Motors, Grasim Industries, Axis Bank UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Tata Steel and Shree Cement were among the losers.The overall market breadth was positive as 1,661 shares ended higher, while 1,220 closed lower on the BSE.