Mumbai, Aug. 19 -- The domestic equity benchmarks ended with decent gains today, extending their winning streak to a fourth straight session, as investor sentiment was buoyed by optimism surrounding potential GST reforms and positive signals from ongoing Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

The Nifty settled above 24,950 mark. Oil & gas, media and auto shares advanced while pharma and financial services shares declined.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rallied 370.64 points or 0.46% to 81,644.39. The Nifty 50 index added 103.70 points or 0.42% to 24,980.65. In the past four trading sessions, the Sensex and Nifty jumped 1.75% and 2.01%, respectively.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. ...