Sensex surges 432 points to close at 44,260; Nifty settles near 13,000-mark – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Equity indices finished higher on Thursday with the benchmark BSE sensex rising over 400 points led by gains in metal and banking stocks amid sustained foreign fund inflows.
The 30-share BSE index surged 432 points or 0.98 per cent to close at 44,260; while the broader NSE Nifty settled 129 points or 1 per cent higher at 12,987.
Top gainers in the sensex pack included Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Auto, HDFC, HCL Tech, Titan and HDFC Bank with their shares rising as much as 5.30 per cent.
While ONGC, Maruti, Tech Mahindra and IndusInd Bank were the only losers falling up to 0.68 per cent.
On the NSE platform, sub-indices Nifty Metal, PSU Bank and Financial Services gaining as much as 3.85 per cent.
“We’ve had such a strong run-up … in these last two days the market is just seeing profit-taking,” Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of research at SMC Global Securities told news agency Reuters.
“But the overall trend and mood is positive. We haven’t seen anything that can point to the trend weakening,” he added.
Construction group Larsen & Toubro and automaker Mahindra and Mahindra were among the top boosts to the Nifty 50, as investors continued to favour sectors expected to benefit from an economic recovery.
The economy is expected to recover early next year from recession, but at a modest pace, according to a majority of economists in a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 24.20 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.
(With agency inputs)