In the stock market, bulls took charge to extend the winning streak for a third consecutive session. All-round buying took the Nifty 50 beyond the 25,500 level to close at a near nine-month high.
Notably, the market opened higher but saw extended buying as the session progressed. It was supported by heavyweight names and shares of metal, banking and oil & gas pack, with Nifty Bank ending at a record high.
Shares of HDFC Bank rose 2% helping Bank Nifty hit a fresh record high.
At close, the Sensex was up 1,000.36 points or 1.21% at 83,755.87, and the Nifty was up 304.25 points or 1.21% at 25,549. Broader indices too extended gains for a fifth day, with the BSE midcap index rising 0.5% while the smallcap index ending marginally higher.
Among the sectors, metal stocks led the market rally, with all constituents ending in the green, pushing the index up by 2.3%. It was followed by oil and gas stocks, as a sharp fall in crude prices boosted shares of oil marketing companies, resulting in the Nifty Oil & Gas index rising 1.86%
Over 120 stocks hit their 52-week high. These included key names like Abbott India Ltd, Aditya Birla Capital Ltd, AU Small Finance Bank Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Dalmia Bharat Ltd, EID Parry India Ltd, Fortis Healthcare Ltd, Gillette India Ltd, Grasim Industries Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd, Home First Finance Company India Ltd, Laurus Labs Ltd, Lloyds Metals and Energy Ltd, L&T Finance Ltd, among others.
Around 27 stocks touched 52-week lows, including Ola Electric Mobility Ltd, Protean eGov Technologies Ltd, Axita Cotton Ltd, Naksh Precious Metals Ltd, and Uma Exports Ltd.
Shares of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories fell 1% after Citi Research maintained its sell call on the stock. Bharti Airtel jumped over 2% to hit a fresh record high of Rs 2,003.80 apiece on the BSE.
The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, fell to a three-year low of 97.
Overseas investors remained net sellers over the last three sessions, but strong inflows from domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have helped frontline indices stay afloat.