The Nifty rose 14.9 per cent to clock its best year since 2017, while the Sensex gained 15.75 per cent.

The Nifty was flat at 13,981.75 after rising briefly to life-time high of 14,024.85 and the Sensex closed 0.01 per cent higher at 47,751.33 on Thursday, as losses in IT firms and Reliance Industries offset gains in private sector lenders.

After 2008 and  2001, year 2020 came in third, with the fall between its peak during the year and its lowest point at 35 percent.

Calendar year 2021 will be marked with hopes of early roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine, normalisation of activities and unperturbed growth recovery.

The gap between large-cap shares and their smaller peers was sharp. The BSE Mid Cap index gained 19.87 per cent this year, while the BSE SmallCap index jumped 32.11 per cent.

The Nifty IT index rallied 55 per cent in 2020, logging its best year since 2013, while the Nifty Pharma index logged a 60.6 per cent rise.

Financials were among the worst performers this year, with the Nifty PSU bank index sliding more than 30 per cent.

On Thursday, the IT index closed down 0.32 per cent and the Pharma index settled 0.72 per cent higher.

Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries closed down 1.6 per cent and 0.51 per cent, respectively, and were the top drag on the Nifty.

Private sector lenders were the top boost as HDFC Bank closed 0.27 per cent higher and ICICI Bank Ltd added 1.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, hopes of a speedy economic recovery in 2021 amid COVID-19 vaccine rollouts kept global investor mood upbeat.

According to Morgan Stanley, we remain in a bull market that started in March. "Even though one should expect corrections along the way, the equity market may have more legs before it tops out,"