Benchmark indices closed over 1 per cent higher on Wednesday as market maintained its bullish momentum post Budget announcement.

Market opened on a post note amid positive global cues. Indices gained further during the day, witnessing across-the-board buying, the rally led by bank stocks. 

The BSE Sensex closed at 59,558.33, up 695.76 points or 1.18 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 59,618.51 and a low of 59,193.05. The Nifty 50 closed at 17,780.00, up 203.15 points or 1.16 per cent, near the day’s high of 17,794.60. It recorded an intraday low of 17,674.80.

Breadth remains positive

The market breadth remained positive with 2,299 stocks advancing on the BSE as against 1,062 that declined while 96 remained unchanged. Furthermore, 446 stocks hit the upper circuit as compared to the 247 stocks that were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 169 stocks touched a 52-week high level and 12 touched a 52-week low.

The volatility index softened 6.64 per cent to 18.65.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, “The domestic market continued its bull ride tracking budget cues and positive sentiments from global markets. Most sectors remained green while banking and finance stocks contributed most to the gain.”

“Global markets added its gain as strong earnings numbers helped investors to digest geopolitical worries. Besides corporate numbers, investors are also awaiting the outcome of OPEC+meeting and Eurozone inflation numbers for January,” added Nair. 

According to Ruchit Jain, Lead Research, 5paisa.com, “The indices kept the momentum intact after the budget day as the sentiment remained positive and the global markets too continued the up move.”

“Technically, Nifty has retraced 61.8 percent of the recent corrective phase which is placed at 17700-17800. Although this is a resistance zone, the index maintained its positive structure for most part of the day around this zone which is a positive sign and hence, we could see a continuation of the up move.The Banking space, as expected, is showing outperformance and is leading the momentum on the higher side,” added Jain.

All in green

On the sectoral front, all indices closed in the green with financials, IT, FMCG and pharma recording higher gains.

Nifty PSU Bank closed over 3 per cent higher while Nifty Bank and Nifty Private Bank were up over 2 per cent each. Nifty Financial Services was up nearly 2 per cent. Nifty Healthcare Index was up 1.7 per cent. Nifty IT, Nifty Metal, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Pharma each closed over 1 per cent higher. 

Broader indices

The gains extended to the broader market with broader indices closing higher.

Nifty Midcap 50 was up 1.15 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 1.61 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was up 1.08 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 1.54 per cent.