Mumbai: It’s a mixed day for the markets as the Sensex gained nearly one per cent to close above the psychological 50,000-mark whereas gold prices tumbled Rs 679 on the back of weak global cues.
The 30-stock Sensex swung nearly 633 points during the session before ending at 50,296.89, showing a rise of 447.05 points or 0.90 per cent.
Likewise, the NSE Nifty climbed 157.55 points or 1.07 per cent to settle at 14,919.10, extending gains to a second day.
Among Sensex stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra was the lead gainer rising by 4.98 per cent. NTPC rose by 3.83 per cent, Bajaj Auto by 3.53 per cent, and Tech Mahindra by 3.44 per cent. TCS, Maruti, Infosys, HCL Tech, Nestle and Bharti Airtel were among the gainers.
On the other hand, ONGC, HDFC, Dr Reddy's, PowerGrid and SBI suffered losses. Of the Sensex constituents, 25 shares ended with gains.
Sectorally, BSE auto surged the most with 3.18 per cent gains, followed by IT (2.85 per cent), tech (2.84 per cent) and industrials (2.20 per cent). All the 19 sectoral indices closed in the green.
The auto stocks were in focus even on Monday as the major carmakers posted double-digit growth figures for last February.
"An improved outlook post-February auto sales numbers resulted in continued buying in auto stocks with the IT sector also being a major contributor in the rally," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Analysts point out that investor sentiment remained upbeat due to the latest GDP numbers that pulled the Indian economy out of a technical recession.
Besides the Oct-December GDP figures which were released on Friday, returning of calmness in global bond markets has also helped the stock market.
"Concerns pertaining to rising bond yields appear to have softened a bit after central bankers across the world have begun to push back against higher rates,” said Binod Modi, Head - Strategy at Reliance Securities