Mumbai: Indian equity markets witnessed a sharp rally on Thursday, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extending their gains for the sixth consecutive trading session, ahead of the Dhanteras festival.
The BSE Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to settle at 79,310.01, while the NSE Nifty climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to close at 24,536.60, crossing the crucial 24,500 mark.
Buying activity was particularly strong in banking, automobile and financial services stocks. Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto emerged as the top performer, rising 4.14%. Nifty Financial Services gained 3.99%, while Nifty Realty advanced 3.52%. Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Bank rose 3.44% and 3.33%, respectively.
Among individual stocks, Bajaj Finance led the Nifty gainers, jumping 7.65%. Shriram Finance advanced 6.08%, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra (5.59%), Maruti Suzuki (5.48%), IndiGo (5.43%) and ICICI Bank (5.33%).
However, Apollo Hospitals declined 2.66%, emerging as the biggest loser among major Nifty constituents. ONGC, NTPC, Coal India and Bharat Electronics also ended in the red.
Broader markets participated in the rally, with the Nifty Midcap index rising 1.8% and the Smallcap index gaining 0.6%.
Market breadth remained positive, with 2,775 stocks advancing, 1,329 declining and 147 remaining unchanged on the BSE.
The sustained rally ahead of Dhanteras reflected broad-based buying interest, particularly in rate-sensitive and consumer-linked sectors.
