Bourses climb for 2nd straight day amid firm global trend, healthcare & financial stocks rise

 Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty extended their gains for the second straight session on Wednesday, mainly due to buying in healthcare, financial and commodity stocks amid a firm trend in global equities.

However, sustained foreign fund outflows from the domestic equity markets capped the rise, traders said.

In a largely range-bound session, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 139.91 points or 0.24 per cent to settle at 58,214.59, with 18 of its constituents posting gains. During the day, the index witnessed a high of 58,418.78 and a low of 58,063.50.

The broader NSE Nifty climbed 44.40 points or 0.26 per cent to end at 17,151.90, with 33 of its scrips ending in the green.

Among the Sensex stocks, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever and Power Grid were the major gainers.

NTPC, Axis Bank, Nestle, HCL Technologies and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge gained 0.54 per cent and the midcap climbed 0.18 per cent.

Healthcare, commodities, FMCG, utilities, financial services and oil & gas were among the gainers.

On the other hand, telecommunication, consumer durables, metal and realty ended lower.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.31 per cent to $75.09 per