Sensex surges 418 pts, ends above 60K; Bajaj twins, RIL top contributors

CLOSING BELL

Stock market highlights: Equity markets surged for a fourth straight day on Wednesday, riding on the fall in crude oil prices, and likely peaking out of inflation. The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 418 points, or 0.7 per cent, to close at 60,260. The NSE Nifty, meanwhile, shut shop at 17,926, up 101 points or 0.57 per cent. 

Bajaj Finserv (up nearly 6 per cent), Bajaj Finance, HDFC Life, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco, Tech M, Bharti Airtel, BPCL, and HCL Tech were the top large-cap gainers. On the flipside, M&M, Apollo Hospitals, Coal India, Cipla, SBI Life, Ultratech Cement, and Maruti Suzuki were the top losers, down up to 1.2 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices settled up to 0.6 per cent up led by ICICI Securities, Zee Entertainment, Supreme Industries, Adani Power, Nava, Rossell India, and Rattan India Enterprises. 

Among sectors, the Nifty PSB index advanced 2 per cent, while the Nifty Auto index slipped 0.5 per cent on profit booking.

Global cues

European markets were mixed on Wednesday after a rally on Wall Street, having struggled to build positive momentum so far this week. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was little changed in early trade, with food and beverage stocks adding 1 per cent while the travel and leisure sector fell 0.8 per cent.

On Wall Street, futures linked to US stock indices were up to 0.4 per cent lower. Earlier in Asia, Nikkei gained 1.2 per cent, Kospi slipped 0.4 per cent, and Hang Seng added 0.4 per cent.