Markets extend rally; realty, metals shine

Mumbai: Benchmarks defied gravity for the second straight session today as investors piled into recently-beaten down realty, metals, energy and banking stocks.

Small and mid-cap counters too saw renewed buying interest, a day after RBI eased NPA classification norms for MSMEs.

Short-covering by speculators and sustained buying by domestic institutional investors added to the momentum, brokers said.

The BSE Sensex, which had vaulted over 425 points in intra-day trade, finally ended at 35,463.08 -- up 284.20 points. The broader NSE Nifty jumped 83.70 points to 10,768.35.

This is the highest closing for both the indices since May 15.

The benchmarks had rallied yesterday as well after the RBI hiked the policy rate on inflation concerns but maintained its neutral stance and growth outlook.

With the rate hike out of the way, participants are now focussing on improved growth-inflation dynamics for the Indian economy, analysts said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a strong footing at 35,278.38 and maintained its upward trend to hit the day's high of 35,628.49. It finally ended at 35,463.08, up 284.20 points, or 0.81 per cent.

The broader Nifty finished the day at 10,768.35, showing a gain of 83.70 points, or 0.78 per cent, after shuttling between 10,818.00 and 10,722.60.