Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai. , photo credit: Reuters
Equity benchmark Sensex rallied 142 points for the second consecutive session on Thursday tracking buying in IT and finance stocks amid a good opening in European markets.
After a see-saw session, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 142.43 points, or 0.23 per cent, higher at 60,806.22. The Sensex saw a high of 60,863.63 and a low of 60,472.81 during trading.
The broader NSE Nifty settled 21.75 points, or 0.12 per cent, higher at 17,893.45.
Bajaj Finserv was the top Sensex gainer, rising 2.30 per cent, followed by Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, L&T and TCS.
In contrast, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Tata Motors and Sun Pharma declined up to 1.03 per cent.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap gauge slipped 0.01 per cent and the Smallcap index 0.15 per cent.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended with gains, while Tokyo closed in the red.
However, equity exchanges in Europe were trading in the positive zone in the afternoon session.
Wall Street closed lower in the overnight session.
The rupee ended steady at 82.54 against the US dollar on Thursday.
International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.29 per cent higher at $85.34 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they sold shares worth ₹736.82 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.