Mumbai, Oct. 10 -- The key equity indices ended with minor gains on Thursday. The Nifty settled near the 25,000 level. Private bank, bank and financial services stocks advanced while pharma, IT and media shares declined. Trading was volatile due to weekly F&O series expiry today.

As per provisional closing data, the S&P BSE Sensex added 144.31 points or 0.18% to 81,611.41. The Nifty 50 index rose 16.50 points or 0.07% to 24,998.45.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.36% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.43%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,266 shares rose and 1,649 shares fell. A total of 131 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over th...