Indian equity benchmark continued gaining momentum on Tuesday’s trading session, with the Sensex surging 455 points and the Nifty gaining more than 133 points. The Nifty ended above the
key 18,000-mark for the first time since April as foreign institutional
investors (FII) continued to be bullish on the domestic market.

Extending its rally to the
fourth straight session, the Sensex closed 455.95 points or 0.76% higher at
60,571.08 points. The Nifty rose 133.70 points or 0.75% to settle at 18,070.05
points. Previously, the Nifty had closed above the 18000- mark on April 4,
2022.

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The broader indices ended in
green with the BSE Mid cap index up by 0.32% and the Small cap index up by
0.24%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.77%,
Industrials up by 0.74%, Metal up by 0.74%, Capital Goods up by 0.69% and
Consumer Durables up by 0.66%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.32%, Realty down
by 0.21%, Energy down by 0.12%, Utilities down by 0.06% and Auto down by 0.03%
were the top losing indices on BSE.

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Top gainers from the Sensex
pack were Bajaj Finserv up by 4.00%, IndusInd Bank up by 2.48%, Bharti Airtel
up by 2.04%, Titan Company up by 1.68%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.56%, Larsen and Toubro
up by 1.52%, HDFC Bank up by 1.27%, HDFC up by 1.25%, Power Grid Corp up by
1.18% and ITC up by 1.12%.

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Among the laggards were TCS
down by 0.37%, Asian Paints down by 0.29%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.20%, Dr
Reddy’s Labs down by 0.15%, Sun Pharma down by 0.07% and Maruti Suzuki down by
0.02%.

The rupee surged 36 paise to
close at 79.17 against the US dollar, following the dollar’s decline versus its
major peers and foreign fund inflows.

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Asian markets ended mostly
higher with the Shanghai Composite gaining 0.05%, the Nikkei 225 surging 0.25%,
the KOSPI index jumped 2.74%.

Brent crude, the international
oil benchmark surged 1.55% to $95.46 per barrel.

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Analysts said the market rally
was primarily driven by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) who have turned
net buyers of domestic equities. Retail investor participation also added to
the momentum. FIIs continued to invest in domestic equities, mainly in
financial and FMCGs.

According to the stock
exchange data, FIIs invested Rs 2,049.65 crore into the domestic equities on
Monday.