Mumbai: The market rally went on for the second day today, with the Sensex spurting 53 points to bring up a fresh 1-month closing high of 26,747, in keeping with strong global indices amid investor optimism.
On a weekly basis, both key indices -- the Sensex and the Nifty -- recorded their best gains since September 2 by rising 516.52 points, or 1.96 percent, and 174.95 points, or 2.16 percent, respectively.
The BSE Sensex after shuttling between 26,803.76 and 26,707.81 closed at 26,747.18, up 52.90 points, or 0.20 percent on continuous foreign capital inflows.
This is the highest closing since November 11. The index had rallied 457 points in the previous session.
The broader NSE Nifty scaled a high of 8,274.95, but profit-taking pulled it down to close at 8,261.75, still up 14.90 points, or 0.18 percent.
Risk appetite improved further on the back of a rally in global markets after US stocks hit new records yesterday after the European Central Bank extended its massive stimulus programme beyond March though it scaled down the size of the purchase.
Covering up short positions by speculators fearing buying activity to pick up in the coming session supported the upside, observers said.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 698.86 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
Most Asian markets remained firm, with Japan's Nikkei rising 1.23 percent and Shanghai Composite Index up 0.54 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.44 percent though.
European indices advanced in early trade amid supportive policies from ECB. The Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 1.75 percent and Paris CAC gained 0.87 percent while London's FTSE was up 0.42 percent.
Among 30 Sensex constituents, SBI gained the most as it rose by 2.41 percent, followed by ICICI (2.35 percent), ONGC (1.61 percent), Axis Bank (1.51 percent) and ITC (1.20 percent). Bajaj Auto was battered the most by falling 2.05 percent and Coal India lost 1.60 percent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, realty rose the most by 1.62 percent followed by bankex 1.14 percent, FMCG 0.52 percent, PSU 0.50 percent, infrastructure 0.48 percent and IT 0.47 percent.
Broader markets were in a finer shape, with the small-cap and mid-cap firming up 0.52 percent and 0.21 percent, respectively, after investors built more bets.
