Market flies high on US fiscal cliff deal; Nifty zooms 42 pts

The buying momentum was led mainly by strong FII inflows which catapulted the 50-share benchmark index above the 6,000 mark briefly in late afternoon session for the first time in two years.

The fiscal cliff agreement in the US was sealed in an unprecedented pre-dawn vote in the House of Representatives which spared the world's largest economy from spending cuts and tax hikes.

Financial markets across Asia and Europe, which opened today after the New Year holiday, climbed to multi-month highs. Indian markets yesterday were the first to react to this much awaited deal.

After a strong start, the market maintained its upsurge throughout the day before concluding with substantial gains though Nifty failed to close above the 6,000 level.

Although the US deal is not as far-reaching as expected the near-term breakdown has been averted, giving a big relief to markets across the world, traders said.

Financial stocks spearheaded the rally on hopes of a rate cut this month. Oil & gas, auto, infra, metal and pharma counters, too, witnessed brisk buying. However, technology shares saw some profit-taking.

The Nifty concluded at 5,993.25 points, a rise of 42.40 points, or 0.71 per cent, over its previous close after touching the intra-day high of 6,006.05.

Bajaj Auto, JP Associates, Maruti, BPCL, IDFC, ONGC, GAIL, BHEL, and Sesa Goa were the top Nifty gainers. The losers included Asian Paint, Bharti Airtel, ITC, M&M, Wipro, Power Grid, Reliance Infra, Coal India, Tata Steel and ACC.

Turnover in cash segment jumped to Rs 11,918.71 crore from Rs 8,189.47 crore yesterday. A total of 7,616.77 lakh shares changed hands in 59,14,169 trades. The market capitalisation stood at Rs 68,70,578 crore.