Mumbai: Bolstered by Moody's upgrading India's rating outlook to 'positive' from 'stable' Thursday, the benchmark BSE Sensex surged over 177 points to close at near four-week high of 28,885.21 as lenders led the rally, however, rupee ended flat against the dollar.
On the other hand, gold prices plunged by Rs 400 to hit one-week low of Rs 26,750 per 10 gm in Delhi's bullion market, largely in tandem with a weak trend in the global markets.
Rising for the fifth straight session, the 30-share Sensex touched the day's high of 28,906.71 before settling 177.46 points higher or 0.62 percent at 28,885.21. Intra-day, it slipped into the negative terrain to touch a low of 28.622.44.
The gauge has now garnered 927.72 points in five sessions.
The 50-share NSE Nifty index spurted by 63.90 points or 0.73 percent to close at 8,778.30. During the session, it shuttled between 8,785.50 and 8,682.45.
Showing confidence in the Indian economy, Moody's upgraded country's credit rating outlook and said an upgrade in its sovereign rating is also possible in the next 12-18 months.
The BSE banking index gained the most by rising 2.58 percent.
In the banking segment, prominent gainers were PNB at 6.03 percent, IndusInd Bank 4.63 percent, Kotak Bank (4.16 percent), Bank of India (3.15 percent), Axis Bank (2.88 percent), Yes Bank (2.67 percent), SBI (2.50 percent) and Canara Bank (2.48 percent).
Shares of Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) ended nearly 2 percent higher, a day after the company received an overwhelming response to its share sale by the government.
After surging 4.83 percent to Rs 346 in intra-day trade, shares of REC finally ended at Rs 336.25, up 1.88 percent on the BSE.
In the forex market, the rupee ended steady at 62.24 against dollar due to uneven demand and supply transactions of the American currency from banks.
However, financial markets have been marching upwards in the past few days even as the RBI kept key rates unchanged in its monetary review.
Meanwhile, FPIs sold shares worth Rs 479.18 crore and DIIs bought shares worth Rs 382.54 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
Gold prices in national capital plunged by Rs 400 to hit one-week low of Rs 26,750 per 10 gm due to low demand from jewellers amid a weak global trend after minutes of the Federal Reserve's meet showed that some policymakers favoured raising interest rates in June.
