HDFC twins, RIL drive Sensex 834 pts up; Nifty tops 14,500; midcaps outrun

In the intra-day trade, the S&P BSE Sensex zoomed 936 points to hit a high of 49,500 levels. The index pared gains marginally and closed with gains of 834 points, or 1.7 per cent, at 49,398.29 levels.

Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, HDFC, ICICI Bank, and L&T jumped between 3 per cent and 7 per cent on the BSE today, contributing the most towards the index's gain. That apart, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, and TCS, all up in the range of 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent, remained other contributors.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 reclaimed the 14,500-mark in the intra-day trade to hit a high of 14,546. The 50-share index, however, closed at 14,521 levels, up 239.85 points or 1.68 per cent. 46 of the 50 constituents ended the day in the green.

In the broader market, mid-cap peers outperformed the large-caps, with the S&P BSE MidCap index settling 2.3 per cent higher at 18,953. The SmallCap index, on the other hand, closed at 18,634.97, up 1.6 per cent higher.

Among key sectoral indices, Nifty Financial Services index ended 2.4 per cent higher at 15,614.10. During the day, Bajaj twins – Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv - rallied 9 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, while Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company, too, surged 9 per cent on the back of heavy volumes. READ MORE

That apart, Nifty Realty index surged up to 4.8 per cent on the NSE, hitting an intra-day high of 341, which was close to its 52-week high level of 346.50. Among individual stocks, Indiabulls Real Estate zoomed 13 per cent to Rs 87.90; DLF hit a 52-week high of Rs 296 after rallying 7 per cent in intra-day trade; Godrej Properties, Prestige Estate Projects, Sobha, Oberoi Realty and Brigade Enterprises were up in the range of 3 per cent to 4 per cent.

Global cues

European shares rose on Tuesday after Asian markets rallied on optimism about China's economy, while upbeat earnings reports from miner Rio Tinto and computer peripherals maker Logitech boosted sentiment.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index gained 0.4 per cent, while Germany's DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.4 per cent and London's blue-chip index rose 0.7 per cent.

Asian stocks closed in on all-time highs as investors wagered China's economic strength would help underpin growth in the region after data confirmed the world's second-largest economy was one of the few to grow over 2020.

(With inputs from Reuters)