Mumbai: Extending its winning run to fifth day Thursday, the benchmark BSE Sensex closed higher by 177 points at near one-month high of 28,885.21, mainly led by sharp rise in banking stocks after Moody's raised country's credit rating outlook to 'positive' from 'stable'.
In volatile movements, the 30-share gauge opened on a strong footing but succumbed to profit-booking and slipped into the negative zone to touch a low of 28,622.44.
"Initially, we saw an uptick in index in response to rating upgrade from Moody but profit taking at higher levels capped the upside for most part of the session," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution at Religare Securities.
However, the gauge staged a strong comeback following a flurry of buying in the later part of the session to close higher by 177.46 points or 0.62 percent higher at 28,885.21.
The Sensex has now garnered over 927.72 points in five sessions and is at nearly one-month high. The previous high was on March 12 when it ended at 28,930.41.
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 raised country's credit rating outlook and said an upgrade in its sovereign rating is also possible in the next 12-18 months.
Furthermore, a firm trend among other Asian markets and higher opening across European markets also buoyed sentiments.
Strong rally in BSE Sensex heavyweight RIL and banking shares like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI together contributed most of the gains.
In the banking space, 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), Canara Bank (2.48 percent), Bank of Baroda (2.40 percent), HDFC Bank (1.68 percent) and ICICI Bank (1.65 percent).
However, fall in Sun Pharma, Cipla, Bharti Airtel and GAIL restricted the surge to a certain extent.
Pharma shares were at the receiving end with healthcare index plunging 2.08 percent after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded Sun Pharma to 'underperform' from 'buy' and Lupin, Cipla and Cadila Healthcare to 'neutral' from 'buy'.
Meanwhile, Foreign Portfolio Investors sold shares worth Rs 479.18 crore and Domestic Institutional Investors bought shares worth Rs 382.54 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
Other Asian markets ended mixed today as indices in Japan and Hong Kong firmed up by 0.75 percent to 2.70 percent, while those in China, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan moved down in the range of 0.01 percent to 0.93 percent.
European markets were trading higher in afternoon session after Germany reported positive economic data. Key indices in Germany, France and the UK moved up by 0.35 percent to 0.79 percent.
On Wednesday, US stocks ended slightly higher following the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes where several Federal Reserve officials favoured a June rate hike.
Of 30-share Sensex, 18 scrips ended higher, while 12 others finished lower.
Major gainers were RIL at 3.40 percent, Axis Bank 2.88 percent, Tata Steel 2.69 percent, SBI (2.50 percent), HDFC Bank (1.68 percent), Coal India (1.66 percent), ICICI bank (1.65 percent), Hindalco (1.45 percent) and HUL (1.27 percent).
However, Sun Pharma fell by 3.21 percent, Bharti Airtel 2.97 percent, Gail India 2.96 percent, Cipla 2.34 percent and BHEL 1.19 percent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices bankex rose by 2.58 percent while metal by 1.43 percent.
Market breadth also continued to remain strong as 1,584 stocks close higher while 1,256 lower while 84 ruled steady. Total equity turnover rose to Rs 4,269.28 crore from Rs 3,631.62 crore yesterday.
