Sensex ends at 24-month high; ITC, telcos surge

Mumbai: The Sensex rose for a second consecutive session on Tuesday to touch two-year highs as ITC advanced ahead of its earnings results at the end of the week, while wireless carriers jumped on speculation about potential tariff hikes.

ITC provisionally rose 2.3 per cent. The cigarette maker will post October-December earnings on Friday.

Bharti Airtel gained 5.2 per cent, while Idea Cellular jumped 9.2 per cent. The Sensex topped the 20,000-mark for the first time since January 7, 2011, touching an intra-day high of 20,036.82, before settling at 19990.08, up 83.67 points over its previous close. Meanwhile, the Nifty rose 34.35 points to close at 6058.40, its highest closing since January 5.