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
"This should offer some comfort to Indian equities and INR as rising bond yields in the USA and declining spread between USA Treasury yields and India's G-Sec yields had started putting pressure on INR," he added.
Meanwhile, Brent Futures rose 0.71 per cent to trade at 63.76 per barrel.
Also read: Gold declines Rs 342; silver plummets by Rs 2,007
On the forex market front, the rupee surged by 18 paise to close at 73.37 against the US dollar on Tuesday.
Gold tumbles Rs 679, silver crashes Rs 1,847
Gold prices on Tuesday tumbled Rs 679 to Rs 44,760 per 10 grams in the national capital, due to bleak international market trend and rupee appreciation, according to HDFC Securities.
The precious metal had closed at Rs 45,439 per 10 grams in the previous close.
Silver also crashed by Rs 1,847 to Rs 67,073 per kg from the closing of Rs 68,920 per kg in the previous day's trade.
HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel, "Spot prices for 24 karat gold at Delhi plunged by Rs 679 with fall in global gold prices and rupee appreciation."
The spot rupee was trading around 14 paise stronger against the US dollar during the day, he added.
In the international market, gold was trading lower at USD 1,719 an ounce and silver was down at USD 26.08 an ounce.
With PTI inputs
