Relief rally lifts Sensex 346 points, Infosys, RIL stand tall

The flagship Sensex today ticked all the right boxes as it surged over 346 points to reclaim the key 33,000-mark, driven up by PSU banking stocks.

Both benchmarks Sensex and Nifty notched up their single-day biggest gains since November 1.

In the process, the Sensex reversed its three-session losing spell as Reliance Industries led the rally after global crude prices dropped. Infosys jumped the most.

The 30-share BSE index opened and hit the day's high of 33,165.15 before settling up 346.38 points, or 1.06 per cent, at 33,106.82. This is the highest closing of November 10 when it had closed at 33,314.56.

The barometer had lost 554.12 points in the previous three sessions on subdued exports, higher inflation and muted second quarter earnings of some companies. The 50-component Nifty closed at 10,214.75, a solid gain of 96.70 points, or 0.96 per cent, after touching a high of 10,232.25 and a low of 10,139.20.

"Bargain hunting in index heavyweights fuelled a surge in the domestic indices. Rapid pace of recapitalisation process has kept the PSU bank stocks buoyant. The steadiness in oil prices on hopes of an extended output deal buoyed the global markets," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

The rally saw market capitalisation of BSE listed companies -- a proxy for investor wealth -- swell to Rs 143.19 lakh crore.

Infosys was the leader of the Sensex team today, with a 3.85 per cent rise, followed by SBI, Reliance Industries, NTPC and TCS. Buying activity was so strong that all sectoral indices landed in the green.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 869.09 crore yesterday while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded equities amounting to Rs 381.42 crore, provisional data showed. Tracking a strong comeback, broader markets came alive, with the small-cap surging 1.10 per cent and the mid-cap index 1.07 per cent. The IT index rose the most -- 2.16 per cent -- followed by technology, power and realty. Most ofAsian shares and Europe ruled firm.