BSE Sensex continued its rising momentum for the second consecutive day on Thursday helped by across-the-board buying despite largely negative cues from global peers amid concerns over the Omicron strain of the coronavirus.
The 30-share Sensex opened positive and closed 776.50 points or 1.35 per cent higher at 58,461.29. The NSE Nifty soared 234.75 points or 1.37 per cent to close at 17,401.65.
HDFC emerged as the top performer on Sensex. It closed 3.92 per cent higher at Rs 2,809.15. HDFC was followed by PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Bajaj Auto.
ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and UltraTech Cement closed in the red.
Analysts told PTI that despite weaker sentiment in international markets, domestic indices rose because of gains in IT, financials and metal stocks. This was further backed by strong macroeconomic data. Further, the U.S. Fed's remarks indicating a tapering and interest rate hike coupled with the first confirmed case of the Omicron variant in the U.S. triggered a fresh global sell-off.
India's GDP grew 8.4 per cent in the July-September quarter, as per the latest data by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation revealed on Tuesday evening. The economy which is heading back to normalcy benefitted from easing Covid-related restrictions following the second wave of coronavirus disease.
GST collections in November surpassed the Rs 1.30 lakh crore mark for the second consecutive month. This is the second-highest collection since the implementation of the taxation regime.
All sectoral indices ended on a positive note, with BSE utilities, power, IT, tech, oil and gas, metal and finance indices advancing as much as 2.21 per cent.
Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices jumped up to 1.12 per cent.
Wall Street led global markets lower after the US reported its first case of the Omicron variant as more countries imposed travel restrictions.
In Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Tokyo closed with losses, while Hong Kong and Seoul rose.
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading with losses in the afternoon session.
International oil benchmark Brent crude rose 2.41 per cent to USD 70.53 per barrel.
In a separate development, the rupee fell 9 paise to close at 75.00 against the dollar as investors were worried about Omicron's impact on the economy.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,765.84 crore, as per exchange data.
(With inputs from PTI)
