Sensex rallies nearly 700 pts, Nifty above 17,750

Mumbai:  Equity benchmark Sensex surged nearly 700 points on Wednesday to recapture the 59,000-level, as the post-Budget rally continued for the second session with intense buying in banking and financial stocks.

Supportive global cues also propped up the domestic indices, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 695.76 points or 1.18 per cent higher at 59,558.33. Likewise, the NSE Nifty jumped 203.15 points or 1.16 per cent to end at 17,780.00.

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting over 5 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank and Axis Bank.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Nestle India, Maruti and L&T were among the laggards.

Of the Sensex constituents, 21 shares closed higher while 9 were in the red.

India’s Budget for 2022-23, with higher allocation to infrastructure, is likely to provide a boost to the ongoing economic recovery through a sharp increase in capex spending, according to experts.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed with healthy gains.

Several Asian markets, including China, Hong Kong and South Korea, were shut for the Lunar New Year holidays.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading in the green in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.27 per cent to USD 89.40 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 21.79 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data.