Benchmark indices retained gains for the second consecutive session, ending over 1 per cent higher on Thursday.

Market opened on a flat note amid mixed global cues and gained further during the morning trade, tracking gains in heavyweights such as HDFC twins, RIL and Infosys. Indices extended gains during the day, witnessing across the board buying during closing hours.

The BSE Sensex closed at 58,461.29, up 776.50 points or 1.35 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 58,513.93 and a low of 57,680.41. The Nifty 50 closed at 17,401.65, up 234.75 points or 1.37 per cent, near the day’s high of 17,420.35. It recorded an intraday low of 17,149.30.

Only three stocks, ICICI Bank, Cipla and Axis Bank closed in the red on the Nifty 50.

Adani Ports, Powergrid, HDFC, Sun Pharma and Grasim were the top gainers on the Nifty 50.

Breadth remains positive

The market breadth remained positive with 2,185 stocks advancing on the BSE as against 1,065 that were declined while 150 remained unchanged. Furthermore, 437 stocks hit the upper circuit as compared to the 209 stocks that were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 171 stocks touched a 52-week high level and 18 touched a 52-week low.

The volatility index which had climbed above 21 earlier this weak softened 6.99 per cent to close at 18.09.

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities said, "Bulls held the upper hand today as Indices sprinted over a percentage led by the IT Index during afternoon trade.”

“As the volatility index cooled off today, we witnessed stock-specific action across sectors in the broader markets buoyed by GDP & GST data together with cooling Energy prices. Advance - Declines showed a marked improvement today with most of the sectoral indices ending in the green,” added Ranganathan

High-frequency key economic indicators in recent months have kept investor sentiments remained upbeat. However, concerns related to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and the impact continue weighing on investor sentiments.

India’s GDP growth rate for the second quarter reached 8.4 per cent, core sector growth touched 7.5 per cent and the fiscal deficit for seven months came in at 36.3 per cent.

Furthermore, the GST collection for November stood at ₹1.31 lakh crore, the second-highest GST collection since the inception of GST.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "Irrespective of the weak sentiments in the international markets, domestic indices continued to rise due to gains in IT, financials and metal stocks amid strong domestic macroeconomic data.”

“Fed Chair’s remarks stating a possibility of a faster end to the bond-buying programme and interest rate hike along with the first confirmed case of the Omicron variant in the US, triggered a fresh global sell-off. The Union government’s fiscal deficit of 36.3 per cent of budget estimates in October, is better owing to improved revenue collection,” added Nair.

Green all around

On the sectoral front, all indices closed in the green.

Nifty IT recorded the highest gains, closing 2.06 per cent higher. Nifty Metal was up 1.56 per cent at closing.

Nifty Auto, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Oil & Gas, closed over 1 per cent higher each.

Broader indices

Broader market also gained with broader indices closing in the green.

Nifty Midcap 50 was up 1.19 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.88 per cent.

The S&P BSE Midcap was up 1.01 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 1.12 per cent.