Mumbai: The BSE Sensex surged over 346 points to reclaim the key 33,000-mark, driven up by PSU banking stocks. Both benchmarks Sensex and Nifty notched up their single-day biggest gains since 1 November. In the process, the Sensex reversed its three-session losing spell as Reliance Industries led the rally after global crude prices dropped. Infosys jumped the most.
The 30-share index opened and hit the day’s high of 33,165.15 before settling up 346.38 points, or 1.06%, at 33,106.82. This is the highest closing of 10 November when it had closed at 33,314.56. The barometer had lost 554.12 points in the previous three sessions on subdued exports, higher inflation and muted second quarter earnings of some companies. The 50-component Nifty closed at 10,214.75, a solid gain of 96.70 points, or 0.96%, after touching a high of 10,232.25 and a low of 10,139.20.
“Bargain hunting in index heavyweights fuelled a surge in the domestic indices. Rapid pace of recapitalisation process has kept the PSU bank stocks buoyant. The steadiness in oil prices on hopes of an extended output deal buoyed the global markets,” said Anand James, chief market strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
The rally saw market capitalisation of BSE listed companies—a proxy for investor wealth—swell to Rs143.19 trillion. Infosys was the leader of the Sensex team, with a 3.85% rise, followed by SBI, Reliance Industries, NTPC and TCS. Buying activity was so strong that all sectoral indices landed in the green.
Domestic institutional investors were net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs869.09 crore on Wednesday, while foreign portfolio investors offloaded equities amounting to Rs381.42 crore, provisional data showed.
Tracking a strong comeback, broader markets came alive, with the small-cap surging 1.10% and the mid-cap index 1.07%. The IT index rose the most at 2.16% followed by technology, power and realty.