MARKET WRAP: Bull run continues; Sensex gains 506 pts, Nifty ends at 13,109

The domestic equity market ended over 1 per cent higher on Tuesday, led by healthy buying in financial, information technology (IT), and pharma counters. 

The S&P BSE Sensex rallied 506 points, or 1.15 per cent to settle at 44,655 levels while NSE's Nifty ended above 13,100 level at 13,109, up 140 points, or 1.08 per cent. India VIX slipped 0.23 per cent to 19.7 levels.

Infosys, ICICI Bank, HDFC, and Reliance Industries (RIL) were the major contributors to the Sensex's gain while HDFC Bank, and Bajaj Finance were among the top drags. Sun Pharma (up 5.5 per cent) was the top gainer on Sensex. 

Broader market, too, rallied in the trade. The S&P BSE MidCap index gained 0.94 per cent to 17,073 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 17,013, up 0.82 per cent. 

Among sectoral indices on the NSE, Nifty Realty gained the most - up 3.3 per cent to 269.90 levels while Nifty PSU Bank index surged 2.88 per cent to 1,603 points. Nifty FMCG was the only index that ended in the red - down 0.04 per cent. 

Global markets

World shares edged up to just below record peaks on Tuesday after robust China data boosted expectations of a recovery from the Covid-19 downturn and as drugmakers seek fast approval for their vaccines and authorities look set to keep stimulus support. 

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.3 per cent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.1 per cent after Australia’s central bank said the country’s economy would need fiscal and monetary support “for some time."

In commodities, oil prices ticked up with early European trading erasing earlier losses, as all eyes were on talks between OPEC and its allies who postponed a formal meeting to decide whether to increase output from next month. 

(With inputs from Reuters)