New Delhi, Sept. 19 -- The Indian stock market ended with modest gains on Thursday, with benchmarks, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, rising for the third consecutive session after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points and gave subtle hints that there could be two more rate cuts this year.

The Nifty 50 ended at 25,423.60 and is inching closer to the crucial 25,500 level. Ajit Mishra, SVP of research at Religare Broking, highlighted that the market could see some profit-taking or consolidation as the Nifty is on the verge of testing the target level of 25,500.

However, he finds support for the index in the 25,150-25,250 zone and believes favourable sentiment across the key sectors would keep the tone positive.

"We rec...