Mumbai: Stocks came good for the third day as the Sensex on Wednesday returned to its pre-demonetisation level by jumping 333 points to end at a nearly 3-month high of 27,708 on the back of strong earnings amid positive global feelers.
The NSE Nifty went past the 8,600-mark for the first time since November 1.
Covering of pending short positions following the expiry of the January futures and options contracts today and positive earnings by some companies aided sentiment. Stock exchanges will be shut on Thursday for the Republic Day.
After a positive start, the 30-share Sensex rose further and settled up 332.56 points, or 1.21 per cent, at 27,708.14 — a level last seen on November 1 when it had closed at 27,876.61. It hit an intra-day high of 27,736.83.
The gauge had rallied 341.08 points in the previous two sessions.
Also, the 50-issue NSE Nifty ended at 8,602.75, up 126.95 points, or 1.50 per cent, after moving between 8,612.60 and 8,493.95.
"Market had come to the pre-demonetisation level supported by the ongoing quarterly results which largely survived the expected slowdown. Positive global cues also added excitement in the market rally," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
Banking, metal, auto and consumer durables stocks were in fine nick, lifting the key indices.
Mood was aided by optimism ahead of the Union budget on February 1 amid a firming trend in Asia and Europe following overnight record close in the US on hopes of fresh spending by new US President Donald Trump, traders said.
The banking index advanced the most by surging 2.33 per cent, followed by consumer durables (2.26 per cent), oil and gas (1.75 per cent), PSU (1.64 per cent) and metal (1.39 per cent).
HDFC Ltd emerged as the top gainer in the Sensex kitty, climbing 4.31 per cent, followed by Adani Ports (up 3.61 per cent). HDFC Bank surged 1.56 per cent after the lender on Wednesday reported 15.04 per cent growth in net profit for the December quarter.
Maruti Suzuki advanced 1 per cent after 47.46 per cent jump in standalone quarterly net profit. Other biggies that gained were Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank, Coal India, L&T, ITC Ltd, M&M and SBI.
But Bharti Airtel plunged 1.52 per cent on nervous selling after net profit for October-December took a hit of over 54 per cent due to a tariff war.
Overall, 23 advanced and 7 ended in the red. The broader markets showed an uptrend, with BSE mid-cap rising 0.90 per cent and small-cap 0.87 per cent.
Foreign portfolio investors net bought shares worth Rs 93.95 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data.
Japan's Nikkei ended up 1.43 per cent, with Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng firming up too. Europe traded strong, with Frankfurt, Paris and London's FTSE rising by up to 1.13 per cent in the late session. MORE
A total of 1,512 shares ended up, 1,234 down and 206 ruled steady, making the market breadth positive.
The total turnover on BSE came in lower at Rs 3,740.39 crore, from Rs 3,923.57 crore during the previous trading session.
"Investors are getting prepared to reap benefits from the upcoming budget and are eyeing more on infra and consumer durable," added Nair.
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