Stock Market: Sensex Rises 417 Points, Settles Above 60,000-Mark, Nifty Tops 17,900; Bajaj Finserv Top Gainer

Stock Market: Bajaj Finserv (5,74 per cent), Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, NTPC, Wipro, and Hindustan Unilever were the biggest gainers on the BSE

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Wednesday maintained their winning run. The Sensex closed above the key 60,000 level for the first time in over four months amid persistent foreign fund inflows and on the fall in crude oil prices.

The BSE index rose 417 points (0.70 per cent) to settle at 60,260. During the day, it climbed 481 points to 60,323. The broader NSE Nifty went higher by 119 points (0.67 per cent) to close at 17,944.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj Finserv (5,74 per cent), Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, NTPC, Wipro, and Hindustan Unilever were the biggest gainers. On the flipside, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, and Power Grid were among the laggards.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, 23 scrips were advancing while seven were declining, keeping the breadth of the market in the green.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices settled up to 0.6 per cent.

Among sectors, the Nifty PSB index advanced 2 per cent, while the Nifty Auto index slipped 0.5 per cent on profit booking.

Rahul Shah, co-head of research, Equitymaster, said, "I think it is a case of history repeating itself. Whenever the Sensex has not entered a bear market, the reversal has been quite quick historically and the same has happened this time also. The icing on the cake is that unlike last time, the valuations are much more reasonable this time around. Although the broader market is by no means cheap, it isn't prohibitively expensive either. Therefore, those looking for fundamentally strong stocks at attractive valuations could still find pockets of undervaluation."

Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services, said, "Consistent participation by FIIs is the backbone of the current rally in the domestic market. This reversal in the FII trend is owed to the resilience showcased by the Indian economy even as inflation continues to plague the western markets. Declining commodity and oil prices also instilled confidence in foreign investors," said.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE Sensex advanced 379 points (0.64 per cent) to settle at 59,842 points, while the Nifty climbed 127 points (0.72 per cent) to 17,825 points.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled higher, while Seoul ended lower. Equities in Europe were trading lower during mid-session deals. US markets had ended mostly higher on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.13 per cent to $92.22 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the Indian capital market on Tuesday, picking up shares worth Rs 1,376.84 crore, according to exchange data.