Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 200 points in early trade on Thursday, led by strong buying in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, TCS and Reliance Industries amid persistent foreign fund inflow. After hitting a high of 34,310.14, the 30-share index was trading 124.02 points or 0.36 per cent higher at 34,233.56.
Similarly, NSE Nifty rose 41.65 points or 0.41 per cent to 10,103.20.
Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, TCS, PowerGrid, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech and ICICI Bank. On the other hand, Titan, M&M, ONGC and HDFC were among the laggards.
In the previous session, the BSE barometer settled at 34,109.54, up 284.01 points or 0.84 per cent, while the broader Nifty rose 82.45 points or 0.83 per cent to end at 10,061.55.
On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors bought equities worth Rs 1,851.12 crore in the capital market on Wednesday, provisional exchange data showed.
Besides stock-specific action, sustained foreign fund inflow led to the positive sentiment in the market, traders said.
However, benchmarks may succumb to profit-booking and turn jittery amid weak cues from Asian peers, they added.
Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo were in the red amid concerns over rising US-China tension, while those in Seoul were trading with gains.
International oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.51 per cent to USD 39.19 per barrel.
On Wednesday, US stocks closed noticeably higher as investors examined through a slew of economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 527.24 points, or 2.05 per cent, to 26,269.89. The S&P 500 increased 42.05 points, or 1.36 per cent, to 3,122.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 74.54 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 9,682.91, Xinhua reported.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended higher, with industrials and financials up 3.91 per cent and 3.83 per cent, respectively, leading the gains. Health care dipped 0.2 per cent, the only declining group.
Private companies in the US shed 2.76 million jobs in May as the COVID-19 fallout continues to ripple through the country and weighed on the labour market for another month, US payroll data company Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported on Wednesday.
"Now, as the US economy endures the recession in real time, the stock market may be looking ahead again — pricing-in an economic recovery that could take hold in the second half of this year, or later," Mitch Zacks, CEO at Zacks Investment Management, said in a note on Wednesday, while commenting on the recent market rally amid the COVID-19 shock.
Investors also closely monitored nationwide unrest over the death of African-American George Floyd as riots on top of the pandemic could cause lasting economic scars.
