Sensex Jumps 612 Points, Nifty Ends Above 16,950; Bharti, L&T & Tata Steel Up 2%

Gains across most sectors, led by financial, auto, metal, and healthcare stocks, pushed the headline indices higher. Reliance shares surged 2.4 per cent

Mid- and small-cap shares jumped as Nifty Midcap 100 index climbed 1.55 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index surged 2.15 per cent. Image: Getty

New Delhi: The key equity benchmarks — Sensex and Nifty50 — rose on Wednesday tracking gains across global markets despite increasing cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

The bulls took control over D-Street as the indices hovered in the positive territory throughout the trading session. The BSE Sensex rose 612 points (1.09 per cent) to close at 56,931; while the broader NSE Nifty moved 185 points (1.10 per cent) up to settle at 16,955.

Mid- and small-cap shares jumped as Nifty Midcap 100 index climbed 1.55 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index surged 2.15 per cent.

Gains across most sectors, led by financial, auto, metal, and healthcare stocks, pushed the headline indices higher. Sensex, rallied to a high of 56,989 led by strong gains in index heavyweights Reliance Industries (RIL), Bharti Airtel, and financial shares. RIL shares surged 2.4 per cent to Rs 2,365.

Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, and Tata Steel were the other major gainers, up 2-2.7 per cent each. On the flipside, SBI Life, Wipro, Grasim, Adani Ports, and Nestle India fell as much as 0.99 per cent.

In the previous session, the 30-share equity benchmark rose 497 points or 0.89 per cent to end at 56,319.01, and Nifty surged 156.65 points or 0.94 per cent to 16,770.85.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,209.82 crore on Tuesday, according to stock exchange data.

The positive global backdrop provided by the recovery in the US and European markets might aid the bulls, but this is not sufficient to take the markets much higher. Nifty is unlikely to reach near the October high of 18,604 anytime soon, said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Even though FII selling has come down, they are likely to press sale if the market goes up meaningfully, he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals.

Stock exchanges in the US ended on a positive note in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.24 per cent to $74.16 per barrel.