Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Thursday zoomed higher for the second straight session, led by buying interest in financial and IT stocks. Besides, investors exuded confidence after the US Federal Reserve hinted at slowing down interest rate hikes which also lifted stocks globally.


The S&P BSE Sensex 1,098 points in the intra-day trade, before settling 1,041 points (1.87 per cent), higher at 56,858, while the NSE Nifty50 reclaimed the 16,900-mark to end at 16,930, up 288 points (1.73 per cent).


On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj Finance was the top gainer, up 10.68 per cent. Bajaj Finserv took the second spot, up 10.14 per cent. Tata Steel, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Infosys, Asian Paints, and Tech M were the other outperformers, up between 3 per cent and 4.6 per cent.


On the flipside, Bharti Airtel, Ultratech Cement, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Sun Pharma, and ITC were the only laggards, down up to 1.13 per cent.


In the broader markets, Midcap and Smallcap shares finished on a strong note as Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.84 per cent and Smallcap climbed 0.85 per cent.


On NSE, all 15 sector gauges settled in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty IT and Financial Services outperformed the NSE platform by rising as much as 2.81 per cent and 2.41 per cent, respectively.


The overall market breadth stood positive as 1,910 shares advanced, while 1,429 declined on the BSE.


The market is responding to the possibility of a soft landing for the US and the global economy. In India, relentless FII selling had emboldened the bears to go short. The market surge that we are witnessing now is partly short covering and partly investment buying in segments that are doing well," said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.


In the previous session on Wednesday, Sensex had surged 548 points (0.99 per cent) to close at 55,816, while Nifty had moved 158 points (0.96 per cent) higher to settle at 16,642.


Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 26 paise to close at 79.65 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking a firm trend in the domestic equities.


At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 79.80 against the greenback and finally settled at 79.65 (provisional), registering a rise of 26 paise over its previous close.


Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.37 per cent to $108.08 per barrel.


Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday, offloading shares worth Rs 436.81 crore, as per exchange data.