Mumbai: Pre-Diwali fireworks continued unabated in the stock market as robust buying amid growing confidence about economic recovery propelled the benchmark index Nifty to its highest level in three years on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Thursday.
Financials, particularly PSU banking stocks, led the surge even as energy, FMCG, metal, technology and auto scrips supported the rally.
The 50-share index oscillated between a high of 6,309.05 and a low of 6,235.90 before ending at 6,299.15, a sharp gain of 47.45 points, or 0.76 percent, over the last close. The NSE bellwether is just a few points shy of its lifetime closing high of 6,312.45 hit on November 5, 2010.
Receding investor pessimism, bottoming out in the economy after the recent phase of downtrend and a gush of liquidity are driving the current momentum, traders said.
After exhibiting high volatility in early trade due to October F&O expiry, as traders rolled over positions into the November series, market staged a sharp recovery toward the tail-end with the key index reclaiming the 6,300 level briefly before concluding the session on a high note.
Meanwhile, the much-awaited US Central bank's decision to delay tapering its massive bond buying programme failed to trigger a rally in global markets as cautious investors largely shrugged off the news and booked profits after recent runaway rally. Other Asian and emerging equities reacted negatively and ended sharply lower.
Among the Nifty stocks, Bank of Baroda was the top gainer followed by PNB, SBIN, JP Associates, IDFC, Tata Steel, Coal India, NMDC, GAIL and ICICI Bank.
Key losers included Dr Reddy's, Ambuja Cement, Sun Pharma, Lupin, Ranbaxy, Cipla, ACC, M&M, HUL and Infosys.
Turnover in the cash segment shot up to Rs 16,159.64 crore from Rs 11,833.02 crore yesterday. A total of 8,994.88 lakh shares changed hands in 66,09,316 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 66,91,531 crore.
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