NEW DELHI: Equity indices continued to surge on Wednesday with the benchmark BSE sensex rising nearly 500 points to settle above 46,000-mark for the first time ever amid persistent foreign fund inflow and positive cues from global markets.
The 30-share BSE index rallied 495 points or 1.09 per cent to close at 46,104; while the broader NSE Nifty gained 136 points or 1.02 per cent to finish at 13,529.
Top gainers in the BSE pack included Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Axis Bank and Reliance Industries with their stocks up as much as 3.59 per cent
On the NSE platform, all the sub-indices finished in green with Nifty Media leading the pack by jumping as much as 3.77 per cent.
Binod Modi, head of strategy at Reliance Securities, told news agency PTI that domestic markets saw a gap-up start taking cues from positive global markets.
"Persistent FPI (foreign portfolio investor) flow remains a dominant factor for the markets. Given strong visibility of sustained earnings growth in 2HFY21 led by continued traction in business activities for many sectors, markets are likely to remain buoyant," he said.
FPIs were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,909.60 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to provisional exchange data.
Also, the indices extended the record run as hopes for vaccine approvals further boosted investor sentiment.
Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates
India's health secretary said on Tuesday the country may approve some coronavirus vaccines over the next few weeks and an estimated 300 million people would be inoculated in the first tranche.
India has the world's second-highest virus caseload behind the United States, but daily cases have stayed below the 50,000-mark since November 8, despite a busy festival season that saw crowded markets and streets.
"The vaccine news is a sentiment booster. But it is gushing liquidity that is supporting markets, we are seeing risk-on sentiment building up globally," Aishvarya Dadheech, fund manager at Ambit Asset Management in Mumbai told news agency Reuters.
Global equities traded higher on Wednesday, after Britain started mass-vaccinating its people using a fully-tested Covid-19 shot and as Johnson & Johnson said it could obtain late-stage trial results for a single-dose vaccine earlier than expected.
(With inputs from agencies)