Mumbai: Indian markets Wednesday rose to nearly three-week highs with the benchmark Sensex jumping 184.38 points to end at 29,320.36 and the Nifty index gaining 59.75 points to close at 8,869.10 on hopes of growth-oriented Budget and firming expectations of rate cuts after inflation slowed.
Besides, global cues were positive as Asian and European stocks ended higher amid speculation Greece will resolve its standoff with creditors, said equity brokers.
The BSE Sensex resumed higher at 29,136.07 and shot up further to 29,411.32 before closing at 29,320.26, showing a gain of 184.38 points or 0.63 percent. This its highest since closing at 29,681.77 on January 29, 2015.
In six days, the BSE blue-chip index has gained 1,092.84 points, or 3.87 percent.
"Falling crude prices and relief amidst tensions over Greek economy, mixed sentiments amongst domestic market players due to constant flow of news and events related to Union budget kept markets in a bullish tone," said Bonanza Portfolio, Senior Vice President, Rakesh Goyal.
Major Sensex gainers were HDFC (2.96 percent), Tata Power (2.50 percent), TCS (1.88 percent), Tata Motors (1.59 percent), M&M (1.52 percent), NTPC (1.32 percent), ICICI Bank (1.23 percent) and Wipro (1.09 percent). As many as 20 of 30 Sensex constituents rose.
However, Hero Motocorp dropped by 5.09 percent after Hero Group sold 70 lakh equity shares for over Rs 1,800 crore. Sesa Sterlite (3.19 percent), Bharti Airtel (2.43 percent) and ONGC (2.32 percent) were among the major laggards today.
Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty also rallied further by 59.75 points or 0.68 percent to close at 8,869.10.
In the broader market, defence shares like BEL, BEML, Pipavav Defence rose after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised steps to boost domestic defence industry.
Globally, European stocks edged higher in their early trade amid hopes Greece can secure a deal with its creditors. Indices in the UK, France and Germany were up 0.13-0.86 percent. Asian stocks ended higher tracking gains in the US as fears eased over Greece leaving the eurozone. Benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore were up 0.19-1.18 percent.
Among the S&P BSE sectoral indices, Consumer Durable rose by 1.81 percent, Power 1.45 percent, Capital Goods 1.34 percent, IT 1.09 percent and Auto 0.89 percent.
The Small-cap and Mid-cap indices also rose by 1.04 percent and 0.84 percent respectively on fresh buying by retail investors.
The total market breadth turned positive as 1,634 stocks in green, 1,283 finished in red while 111 ruled steady. The total turnover rose to Rs 4,162.06 crore from Rs 3,550.43 crore on Monday.
Leading stock exchange BSE will move stocks of as many as 21 companies, including Elder Pharmaceuticals and Clutch Auto, to restricted trading segment from next week as part of surveillance measures.
Besides, National Stock Exchange (NSE) would shift scrips of five companies to the restricted trading category.
