Equities jumped for a second day as the market benchmark Sensex climbed by 267.35 points to a one-week high of 23,649.22 on across-the-board buying led by IT and healthcare stocks, in line with a firming global trend.Sentiment remained firm as buying picked up momentum after other Asian markets rose following a strong Wall Street closing on a surge in crude oil prices, which provided much-needed confidence as key producer Iran agreed to an output freeze by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Brent crude oil prices tested USD 35 a barrel in European trade on Thursday.The 30-share Sensex after shuttling between 23,735.35 and 23,448.21, finally settled 267.35 points or 1.14 per cent up at 23,649.22. The gauge had gained 189.90 points on Wednesday.
The 50-share NSE Nifty after testing the crucial 7,200-mark, advanced to touch a high of 7,215.10, before settling 83.30 points or 1.17 per cent higher at 7,191.75.Dr Reddy’s Laboratories emerged as the star performer and closed up by 4.52 per cent at Rs 3,094.95 after its board approved a share buyback around 44.85 lakh shares for Rs 1,569.4 crore.

Gains in Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, Lupin, Wipro, Infosys, L&T, Bajaj Auto, ITC, HUL, Sun Pharma, TCS, HDFC Bank, Coal India, Tata Motors, Cipla and M&M, too supported the upside.Among the 30-Sensex constituents, 20 stocks ended with gains while 10 led by Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints, BHEL, Axis Bank, RIL, Adani Ports, HDFC, Tata Steel, GAIL and NTPC fell.Sector-wise, BSE IT index gained most by rising 1.94 per cent, followed by teck (1.90 pc), healthcare (1.78 pc), capital goods (1.59 pc), FMCG (1.52 pc), oil&gas (1.22 pc), metal (1.12 pc) and bankex (1.10 pc).

The broader markets too continued to trend firm as retail investors boosted its positions with the BSE mid-cap index rising 0.63 per cent and small-cap gaining 0.59 per cent.Globally, Asian markets, including in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore ended higher, while Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.16 per cent. European markets were mixed in their early deals.

Source : thehindu.com

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