Sensex soars to 1-mth high, best weekly show since Sept

The market rally went on for the second day today, with the Sensex spurting 53 points to bring up a fresh 1-month closing high of 26,747, in keeping with strong global indices amid investor optimism.

On a weekly basis, both key indices -- the Sensex and the Nifty -- recorded their best gains since September 2 by rising 516.52 points, or 1.96 per cent, and 174.95 points, or 2.16 per cent, respectively.

The BSE Sensex after shuttling between 26,803.76 and 26,707.81 closed at 26,747.18, up 52.90 points, or 0.20 per cent on continuous foreign capital inflows.

This is the highest closing since November 11. The index had rallied 457 points in the previous session.

The broader NSE Nifty scaled a high of 8,274.95, but profit-taking pulled it down to close at 8,261.75, still up 14.90 points, or 0.18 per cent.

Risk appetite improved further on the back of a rally in global markets after US stocks hit new records yesterday after the European Central Bank extended its massive stimulus programme beyond March though it scaled down the size of the purchase.

Covering up short positions by speculators fearing buying activity to pick up in the coming session supported the upside, observers said.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 698.86 crore yesterday, as per provisional data. Most Asian markets remained firm, with Japan's Nikkei rising 1.23 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index up 0.54 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.44 per cent though.

European indices advanced in early trade amid supportive policies from ECB. The Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 1.75 per cent and Paris CAC gained 0.87 per cent while London's FTSE was up 0.42 per cent.

Among 30 Sensex constituents, SBI gained the most as it rose by 2.41 per cent, followed by ICICI (2.35 per cent), ONGC (1.61 per cent), Axis Bank (1.51 per cent) and ITC (1.20 per cent). Bajaj Auto was battered the most by falling 2.05 per cent and Coal India lost 1.60 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, realty rose the most by 1.62 per cent followed by bankex 1.14 per cent, FMCG 0.52 per cent, PSU 0.50 per cent, infrastructure 0.48 per cent and IT 0.47 per cent.

Broader markets were in a finer shape, with the small-cap and mid-cap firming up 0.52 per cent and 0.21 per cent, respectively, after investors built more bets.