Sensex zooms 1,148 pts, Nifty tops 15,200; financials steal the show

Continuing their winning run for the third session in a row, the BSE Sensex surged nearly 1,148 points to breach the 51,000-level and the NSE Nifty recaptured the 15,200-mark on Wednesday, propped up by intense buying in financial and energy stocks.

At the closing bell, the 30-share Sensex was up 1,147.76 points or 2.28 per cent at 51,444.65 -– the biggest single-day rise since February 2. Intra-day, the index swung 1,243 points.

Likewise, the NSE Nifty climbed 326.50 points or 2.19 per cent to end at 15,245.60. The Sensex rally was driven by Bajaj FinServ, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Axis Bank. Of the 30 Sensex constituents, 27 closed in the green.

Foreign investors had bought equities worth Rs 2,223.16 crore on net basis in Indian capital markets on Tuesday, exchange data showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, stock markets extended gains on Wednesday despite an overnight retreat on Wall Street.

Meanwhile, Brent Futures rose by 1.84 per cent to trade at USD 63.77 per barrel.

On the forex market front, the rupee rose by 65 paise to end at 72.72 against the US dollar.