Stocks defied gravity for the second straight session on Friday as recently-mauled energy and metal counters attracted heavy buying interest.
A recovering rupee, encouraging earnings and unabated buying by domestic institutional investors added to the momentum, brokers said.
The BSE Sensex surged over 261 points to finish at 34,924.87, while the broader NSE Nifty jumped 91.30 points to 10,605.15.
On the global front, investors were cautious after US President Donald Trump cancelled a planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and threatened to impose tariffs on auto imports.
The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a strong footing at 34,753.47 and maintained its upward trend to hit the day’s high of 35,017.93. It finally ended at 34,924.87, up 261.76 points, or 0.76%. The index had rallied 318.20 points in the previous session.
The Nifty finished the day at 10,605.15, showing a hefty gain of 91.30 points, or 0.87%, after shuttling between 10,628.05 and 10,524.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex scored a moderate gain of 76.57 points, or 0.22% while the Nifty rose 8.75 points, or 0.08%.
Meanwhile, Indian markets have witnessed a significant rise during the first four years of the Narendra Modi government.
Since May 26, 2014, the day Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister, the benchmark Sensex has risen by 10,207.99 points or 41.30%, while the NSE Nifty spurted 3,246.10 points or 44.11%. The Sensex hit a lifetime high of 36,443.98 on January 29, 2018.
“A less than hawkish US Fed minutes and positive global cues uplifted domestic sentiments. Short covering was broad-based across sectors, while some buying interest was seen in mid and small cap stocks. Some respite was seen in INR and oil prices which helped the market to recoup its losses this week,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.
Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought equities worth Rs 1,480.51 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 701.93 crore on Thursday, provisional data showed.
State-owned oil companies IOC, ONGC, HPCl and BPCl recovered after a sharp decline Thursday.
ONGC was the top performer in the Sensex pack, rising 4.59%, with global crude oil benchmark Brent dipping to USD 77.03 a barrel.
IT stocks extend gains for the second day, led by Infosys 0.57%, Tata Elxsi 3.03% and Wipro 0.28%.
Tata Steel climbed 3.43% after the NClAT refused to entertain a second round of bidding for Bhushan Steel.
Other gainers in the Sensex pack were Yes Bank 2.71%, IndusInd Bank 2.29%, Adani Ports 2.17%, Axis Bank 1.88%, Hero Motocorp 1.85%, Tata Motors 1.82%, Kotak Bank 1.78%, Bharti Airtel 1.76%, Maruti Suzuki 1.63%, M&M 1.55%, HDFC Bank 1.30%, Sun Pharma 0.97%, Bajaj Auto 0.95%, HUl 0.90%, HDFC ltd 0.71%, RIl 0.62%, Infosys 0.57%, l&T 0.38%, and Wipro 0.28%. However, Coal India fell 1.36%, ITC 1.04%, SBI 0.56%, TCS 0.43%, ICICI Bank 0.25%, Dr Reddy’s 0.08% and Asian Paints 0.04%.
Among sectoral indices, oil and gas rose 3.05%, metal 2.20%, infrastructure 1.98%, auto 1.70%, PSU 1.42%, power 1.37%, realty 1.27%, healthcare 1.05%, bankex 1.02%, capital goods 0.65%, teck 0.37%, FMCG 0.21% and IT 0.15%.
Consumer durables was the sole loser, declined 0.29%.
The broader markets also showed a firming trend, with the mid-cap index advancing by 1.55% and small-cap gaining 1.17%.
Vedanta ltd shares recovered 0.60% after a two-session falling streak.
In the Asian region, Japan’s Nikkei ended 0.06% higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.56% and Shanghai Composite shed 0.42%.
In the Eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.99% and Paris CAC gained 0.52% in early deals. london’s FTSE rose 0.14%.