Sensex rallies over 1,000 pts, Nifty nears 17,000

Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 1,000 points on Wednesday to reclaim the 56,000-level, boosted by intense buying in IT, banking and financial stocks amid growing hopes of a breakthrough in Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

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

The 30-share BSE index closed 1,039.80 points or 1.86 per cent higher at 56,816.65. Likewise, the NSE Nifty jumped 312.35 points or 1.87 per cent to end at 16,975.35.

Ultratech Cement was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting nearly 5 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys and Bajaj Finance.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma and PowerGrid were the laggards.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai closed with healthy gains.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading significantly higher in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has said there is possible room for compromise in talks with Russia, even as the Russian forces intensified its bombardment of Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said Russia’s demands were becoming more realistic. Both the countries are likely to hold talks again on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 2.94 per cent to USD 102.85 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 1,249.74 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data.