Closing Bell: Sensex jumps 740 points, Nifty closes at 17,498

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rose for the
third straight session on Wednesday on buying index heavyweights such as
Reliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC twins and ICICI Bank following gains in
global equities.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 740.34 points or 1.28% to
close at 58,683.99. During the day, it touched 58,727.78 surging 784.13 points
or 1.35%. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 172.95 points or 1% to settle
at 17,498.25.

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Among the sectoral indices, IT, bank, auto, capital
goods, and realty indices are up 1% each, while the metal index is down nearly
3% and oil & gas is down 1%. BSE midcap and smallcap indices are up 0.8% to
1.2%.

Top gainers from the Sensex pack were Bajaj Finserv up by
3.82%, Bajaj Finance by 3.09%, Mahindra and Mahindra up by 2.81%, Power Grid
Corporation up by 2.60%, Nestle up by 2.20%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.18% and HDFC
up by 2.08%.

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Among the laggards were ITC down by 2.16%, Tata Steel
down by 1.98%, Tech Mahindra down 1.69%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.68% and Titan
down 0.60%.

The rupee slipped by 21 paise to 75.94 against the US
dollar as rising crude oil prices and fuel rate hikes by the oil marketing
companies stirred fears of inflation and interest rate hikes.

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Asian markets, bourses in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong
closed with gains, while Tokyo ended in the red. US stock exchanges ended with
gains in the overnight session.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, surged
2.25% to USD 112.7 per barrel.

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According to stock exchange data, foreign portfolio
investors turned buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 35.47 crore on Tuesday.