For the second straight session on Thursday, Sensex and Nifty notched up gains, boosted by hectic buying in auto, financial and IT counters amid firm global cues, even as total Covid-19 cases and deaths surged to 2,10,77,410 and 2,30,168.
The rupee too strengthened by 13 paise to end at 73.78 (provisional) against the dollar, supported by positive domestic equities and a weak American currency.
The stock market cheered the US government’s decision to back waiver of patents for Covid-19 vaccines, which can speed up the vaccination drive in India and other emerging economies, traders said.
Sensex closed higher by 272.21 points or 0.56 per cent at 48,949.76. In volatile trade, the 30-share index oscillated between a high of 49,011.31 and a low of 48,614.11 during the day.
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The Nifty too ended with gains of 106.95 points or 0.73 per cent at 14,724.80.
On the Sensex chart, 20 shares ended with gains with Bajaj Auto, HDFC, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Nestle India, Maruti and Titan the prominent ones, advancing up to 2.61 per cent, while PowerGrid, ONGC, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, NTPC and Sun Pharma were the major losers, dropping as much as 1.24 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, BSE metal rose the most with 2.74 per cent gains. BSE auto climbed 1.81 per cent and IT gained 1.43 per cent. All 19 sectoral indices closed with gains.
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In the broader market, the BSE midcap, largecap and smallcap indices outperformed the benchmark — rising as much as 0.91 per cent.
Elsewhere in Asia, barring China, bourses ended with gains as investors noted signs of economic recovery from the Covid-19 impact.
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