Sensex, Nifty rally nearly 1%

Sensex and Nifty rallied nearly 1 per cent on Wednesday as the benchmark indices closed in positive territory for the fourth straight trading session on the back of gains in IT and financial shares.

A day ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy review, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged 582.87 points or 0.99 per cent to settle at the nearly four-week high of 59,689.31. As many as 21 stocks in the index ended in the green and nine in the red.

After a gap-up opening, the index touched a high of 59,747.12 points during the session.

The broader NSE Nifty jumped 159 points or 0.91 per cent to close above the 17,550 level at 17,557.05. A total of 37 Nifty shares gained while 13 declined.

In the four-session gaining streak, Sensex spurted by 2,075 points or 3.5 per cent while Nifty rose by nearly 4 per cent or 605 points. Among the Sensex stocks, Larsen & Toubro rose the most by 3.96 per cent after the company announced a major project win in the Middle East.