Markets rise for 8th day as Sensex jumps over 60K & Nifty nears 18K

 Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty extended rally for the eighth straight session on Wednesday, propelled by intense buying in IT, healthcare and auto stocks amid sustained foreign fund inflows.

A strengthening rupee and positive opening in European markets further bolstered sentiment, traders said.

Industrial Production data for February and March inflation rates are scheduled to be announced post-market hours. TCS will kick start the Q4 earnings season later in the day.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 235.05 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 60,392.77, as 17 of its scrips marched higher. During the session, it jumped 279.92 points or 0.46 per cent to 60,437.64.

The broader NSE Nifty gained 90.10 points or 0.51 per cent to finish at 17,812.40, with 38 of its scrips ending in the green.

In eight days, the BSE benchmark jumped 2,779.05 points or 4.82 per cent, while Nifty climbed 860.7 points or 5 per cent.

Among the Sensex firms, Infosys, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services, Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank were the biggest winners.

“TCS is also expected to report its Q4 numbers in the evening. In the US CPI numbers are due for March. These factors could influence the near-term direction of the market,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

On the other hand, PowerGrid, NTPC, Nestle, UltraTech Cement, State Bank of India and ITC were among the laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.57 per cent and smallcap index gained 0.41 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, healthcare jumped 2.22 per cent, IT (1.04 per cent), auto (0.88 per cent), teck (0.86 per cent), consumer discretionary (0.74 per cent) and metal (0.51 per cent).

FMCG, utilities, capital goods and oil & gas were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Japan and Shanghai ended in the green, while Hong Kong settled lower.

Equity markets in Europe were also trading with gains during the afternoon trade. The US markets ended mostly lower in overnight trade on Tuesday.

The rupee closed 3 paise higher at 82.09 against the US dollar on Wednesday.