The BSE benchmark hit a morning high of 82,503.97 after gaining more than 646 points as the Sensex reacted to the recent free trade agreement negotiation conclusion between India and the European Union. The upcoming Budget also factored into the rally.
For weeks, the uncertainty surrounding the US-India trade deal and consistent foreign fund outflows shaved off gains in the Indian bourses. On Tuesday, the downward trend was slowly arrested with moderate gains, but it was on Wednesday that the market truly turned around. The FTA is now expected to be implemented this year.
As per the FTA, the EU would get tariff concessions on 93 per cent of its goods in the Indian market. The Union Budget is also expected to be the stage for more customs tax announcements.
"After the India-EU trade deal, which is a big long-term positive, investors are now focused on the Union Budget to be presented on Feb 1," V.K. Vijayakumar of Geojit Investments Limited told agencies.
BEL led the gainers with a nearly 4 per cent stock jump. Other green constituents of the Sensex included Eternal, Powergrid, Axis Bank, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Reliance, Mahindra, Trent, and Tata Steel. Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, and Sun Pharma, however, slumped the most in the 30-pack benchmark.
The NSE Nifty 50 also hit a high of 25,372.10 in Wednesday morning trade, gaining more than 196 points.
