Equity benchmark indices closed over 0.7 per cent higher on August 24 with metals and banking stocks gathering most of the gains. At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 403 points or 0.73 per cent at 55,959 while the Nifty 50 rose by 128 points or 0.78 per cent to 16,625. Sectoral indices were mixed with Nifty metal up by 2.9 per cent, realty by 1.8 per cent, private bank by 1.5 per cent and pharma by 1.3 per cent. But Nifty FMCG fell by 0.6 per cent and IT by 0.2 per cent. Among stocks, Bajaj Finserv surged by 7.8 per cent to close at Rs 16,460 per share. Bajaj Finance too was up by 3.3 per cent while HDFC Bank rose by 2.2 per cent and State Bank of India by 1.8 per cent.