Stock markets extend gains for fifth day; Sensex revisits 66K

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex climbed over 385 points to reclaim the 66,000 mark on Thursday, propelled by robust buying in index majors HDFC Bank, L&T and SBI amid a weak trend in global equities.

A decline in crude oil prices in the international market also supported the domestic equities, traders said. Rising for the fifth straight day, the BSE Sensex recovered all the early lost ground and finally closed with a gain of 385.04 points or 0.58 per cent at 66,265.56. During the day, it hit a low of 65,672.34 and a high of 66,296.90. The Nifty advanced 116 points or 0.59 per cent to settle at 19,727.05. From the Sensex pack, Larsen & Toubro jumped 4.26 per cent to emerge as the biggest gainer, followed by IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies, Power Grid, NTPC, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and Wipro. Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, UltraTech Cement and Hindustan Unilever were the major laggards. In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

European markets were trading in the green in early deals. The US markets ended in negative territory on Wednesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.72 per cent to USD 89.95 a barrel. "The domestic market initially opened with a lacklustre performance, influenced by weak global cues. However, as the day progressed, a decline in US bond yields and crude oil prices injected some positivity into the market. "This optimism was most prominent in banking stocks. Interestingly, mid-and small-cap stocks managed to retain investor interest even though their valuations are relatively high.

Nonetheless, the persistently weak trade data from China continues to cast a shadow over the global market's outlook," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,245.86 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. In the previous session on Wednesday, fag-end buying helped the BSE benchmark climb 100.26 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 65,880.52. The Nifty advanced 36.15 points or 0.18 per cent to end at 19,611.05.