Markets rise for 2nd day in row on buying in oil & gas and fresh foreign fund inflows

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex climbed 446 points while Nifty closed above the 26,100 level on Thursday, extending their gains for the second consecutive day on buying in oil & gas and select financial shares and fresh foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 446.21 points or 0.52 per cent to settle at 85,632.68.

The 50-share NSE Nifty also hit its 52-week high of 26,246.65 during the day before closing at 26,192.15, reflecting gains of 139.50 points or 0.54 per cent over the previous close.

Among Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra and Axis Bank were the major gainers.

However, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, Titan and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.

Among sectoral indices, energy climbed the most by 0.59 per cent, followed by financial services (0.49 per cent), capital goods (0.34 per cent), auto (0.28 per cent), bankex (0.28 per cent), industrials (0.27 per cent) and oil & gas (0.24 per cent). Consumer Durables, telecommunication, IT, teck and realty were the laggards.

The rupee depreciated 20 paise to close at 88.68 against the US dollar on Thursday, on broad strength of the American currency and fading odds of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.

FIIs turned buyers on Wednesday. They bought equities worth Rs 1,580.72 crore in the previous trade, according to exchange data.

Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also bought stocks worth Rs 1,360.27 crore on Wednesday.