BENGALURU: Indian shares advanced on Thursday as an uptick in Reliance Industries and broad sectoral gains overpowered a slide in information technology (IT) stocks.

The Nifty 50 index closed 0.74% higher at 19,979.15, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.71% to 67,571.90. Both the indexes recovered from a lacklustre start and hit new all-time highs for the fifth session in a row, with the Nifty 50 closing just below the 20,000 mark.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries gained 1.54%, after a new price discovery post its demerger with Jio Financial Services. The discovered price for Jio Financial Services was higher than Street estimates of 160-190 rupees.