The benchmark equity indices turned volatile in the last hour of trade on Thursday but still managed to close at their highest levels in more than a month, tracking records made by their US peers.
The NSE Nifty 50 ended 240.95 points or 0.98% higher at 24,708.40 and the BSE Sensex closed 809.53 points or 1% up at 81,765.86.
During the day, the Nifty rose as much as 1.6% to 24,857.75, its highest level since Oct. 22 and the Sensex added as much as 1.68% to 82,317.74, its highest level since Oct. 9.
Investors now look forward to the outcome of the RBI's monetary policy committee meeting on Friday, along with the outcome of the OPEC meeting. They will also track US unemployment claims.
It appears that the market has already digested the MPC outcome, according to Aditya Gaggar, director of Progressive Share Brokers.
"The positive trend is likely to continue but considering the strong rally of the past four days, a minor correction is anticipated," he said. "However, the index is heading towards the psychological barrier of 25,000, whereas the support has shifted higher to 24,550."
The share price of Infosys Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Reliance Industries Ltd. contributed the most to the gains in the Nifty.
NTPC Ltd., Bajaj Auto Ltd., HDFC Life Insurance Co., SBI Life Insurance Co. and Grasim Industries Ltd. minimised the gains.
Most sectoral indices on the NSE rose, with the Nifty IT recording its highest close.
The broader markets underperformed as the BSE MidCap and SmallCap ended 0.27% and 0.16% higher respectively.
On the BSE, 19 sectors ended higher, one declined and another remained flat out of 21. The BSE Focused IT rose the most and BSE Realty declined the most.
The market breadth was skewed in favour of the buyers as 2,144 stocks advanced, 1,821 declined and 118 remained unchanged on the BSE.
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