Stock Market: Sensex Up 280 Points, Reclaims 60,000. Nifty Trades Above 17,700. PSU Banks Rise 1 Per Cent

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Kotak Bank gained 4.25 per cent, followed by SBI, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, PowerGrid, ITC were among the other winners

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, opened in the green on Tuesday tracking improved global sentiments. At 9.36 am, the BSE Sensex was advanced 279 points to reclaim 60,000-mark. It was at 60,125. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty was trading at 17,709, up 85 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Kotak Bank gained 4.25 per cent, followed by SBI, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, PowerGrid, ITC were among the other winners. On the flip side, Asian Paints, TCS, HDFC, HCL Tech, and Tata Motors were the losers.

Among individual stocks, shares of Shilpa Medicare soared over 8 per cent after the USFDA gave nod to its ANDA, Apremilast tablets. Shares of Nagarjuna Fertilisers rallied over 4 per cent after the company restarted its urea production in Plant - II in Andhra Pradesh.

In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices surged up to 0.4 per cent.

Volatility index, India VIX, meanwhile, slipped over 1 per cent.

Sectorwise, barring Nifty IT index, which lost marginally in trade, all other sectors were trading in the green. Nifty PSU Bank index led the charge as it gained over 1 per cent.

In the previous session on Monday, the S&P BSE Sensex, which hit an intra-day high of 60,109, closed at 59,846, up 14 points (0.02 per cent). On the other hand, the Nifty50 closed at 17,624, up 25 points (0.14 per cent). It touched 17,694 during intra-day trading.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Japan, and Hong Kong were trading in the green, while Shanghai quoted lower. The US markets ended mostly in the positive territory on Monday.

"The resilience in Nifty is largely due to the sustained buying by FIIs and the consequent short-covering. The ongoing mild rally is likely to be sustained by individual stock performances triggered by Q4 results rather than by sectoral moves," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 0.63 per cent to $84.69 per barrel. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) further bought equities worth Rs 882.52 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee was trading in a narrow range in morning trade on Tuesday as the bullishness of positive domestic equities and weak American dollar was negated by firm crude oil prices. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 81.96 against the dollar. It touched an early low of 82.09 in initial deals.

The rupee on Monday settled at 81.99 against the US dollar. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 102.35, down 0.22 per cent.