Indian equity benchmarks continued their winning streak on Wednesday, with the Sensex closing above the crucial 60,000 mark amid persistent foreign fund inflows. After a positive start, markets remained higher for the entire day.

The Sensex jumped 417.92 points or 0.70% to end at 60,260.13. During the day, it surged 481.04 points to 60,323.25. The Nifty went higher by 119 points or 0.67% to close at 17,944.25.

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The broader indices ended in green with the BSE Midcap index up by 0.64% and the Small cap index up by 0.53%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.80%, TECK up by 1.13%, Consumer Durables up by 1.10%, IT up by 1.04%, and Utilities up by 0.80%, while Auto down by 0.32% and Capital Goods down by 0.06% were the only losing indices on BSE.

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Top gainers from the Sensex pack were Bajaj Finserv up by 5.74%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.28%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.55%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.45%, HCL Technologies up by 2.22%, NTPC up by 1.86%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.61% and Wipro up by 1.37%.

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Among the laggards were M&M down by 1.07%, UltraTech Cement down by 0.65%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.58%, Tata Steel down by 0.44%, and Kotak Mahindra down by 0.33%, Power Grid Corp down by 0.17% and Titan Company down by 0.06%.

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“Consistent participation by FIIs is the backbone of the current rally in the domestic market. This reversal in the FII trend is owed to the resilience showcased by the Indian economy even as inflation continues to plague the western markets.

“Declining commodity and oil prices also instilled confidence in foreign investors,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

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The rupee appreciated 29 paise to settle at 79.45 against the
US dollar as heavy buying in domestic equities and persistent foreign capital
inflows strengthened investor sentiment.

In Asia, markets in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong closed higher, while Seoul ended with losses.

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European stocks were trading lower during mid-session deals. US stock markets had ended mostly higher on Tuesday.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark slipped 0.13% to $92.22 per barrel.

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According to stock exchange data, foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the Indian capital market on Tuesday, picking up shares worth Rs 1,376.84 crore.