Sensex reclaims 60,000-mark as bulls tighten grip

The BSE Sensex maintained its winning run for the fourth session on the trot on Wednesday to reclaim the 60,000-level after a gap of over four months as investors remained upbeat amid softening crude oil prices and persistent foreign fund inflows.

A strengthening rupee and positive Asian markets further bolstered sentiment, traders said.

The 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 417.92 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 60,260.13 -- closing above the psychologically key 60,000-mark for the first time since April 5 this year.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty spurted 119 points or 0.67 per cent to finish at 17,944.25, marking its seventh straight session of gains.

Bajaj Finserv was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing 5.74 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, NTPC, HUL and Wipro.

On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Maruti, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank, Power Grid and Titan closed with losses of up to 1.07 per cent.

The market breadth was positive, with 23 of the 30 Sensex constituents logging gains.

"Consistent participation by FIIs is the backbone of the current rally in the domestic market.

"This reversal in the FII trend is owed to the resilience showcased by the Indian economy even as inflation continues to plague the western markets.

"Declining commodity and oil prices also instilled confidence in foreign investors," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said the buoyancy in the global markets, especially the US, combined with favourable domestic factors like improving macros and consistent foreign inflows are helping the markets maintain the prevailing trend.

"We thus reiterate our bullish view and suggest using any intermediate dip or pause to create fresh longs.

"The scheduled weekly expiry may result in some whipsaws so plan accordingly," he added.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge rose 0.64 per cent and the smallcap index advanced 0.53 per cent.

Sectorally, BSE telecom jumped 1.80 per cent, followed by teck (1.13 per cent), consumer durables (1.10 per cent), IT (1.04 per cent) and finance (0.90 per cent).

Auto and capital goods were the laggards.

World markets were mixed as optimism following robust US retail earnings was tempered by UK consumer inflation soaring to a four-decade high of 10.1 per cent in July.

In Asia, bourses in Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled higher, while Seoul ended lower.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.13 per cent to $92.22 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the Indian capital market on Tuesday, picking up shares worth Rs 1,376.84 crore, according to exchange data.