Mumbai

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rallied for the second straight session on Wednesday, propelled by buying in industrial, energy and metal stocks amid renewed optimism on the global trade front following the landmark India-EU FTA.

Besides, gains in Bharat Electronics, Reliance Industries and Eternal stocks also supported equities, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 487.20 points, or 0.60 per cent, to settle at 82,344.68. During the day, it soared 646.49 points or 0.78 per cent to 82,503.97.

A total of 2,920 stocks advanced while 1,315 declined and 138 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The 50-share NSE Nifty surged 167.35 points or 0.66 per cent to end at 25,342.75.

"Apart from the continued rub-off from the India–EU FTA, positive global cues, including a weaker US dollar and supportive moves in global indices, helped bolster sentiment.

"Short-covering and renewed buying interest across sectors added to the positive momentum, while company-specific triggers, including notable gains in select heavyweight stocks, further supported the upside," said Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Bharat Electronics surged nearly 9 per cent post its December quarter earnings. Eternal, Bajaj Finance, Power Grid, Trent, Mahindra & Mahindra and UltraTech Cement were the other major gainers.

Asian Paints dropped over 4 per cent after the firm reported a decline of 4.83 per cent in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,073.92 crore for the December quarter of FY26.

Also, Maruti, Sun Pharma, Infosys and Bharti Airtel were major losers on the index.

India and the European Union on Tuesday sealed a landmark free trade agreement-- billed as the "mother of all deals" -- to create a market of two billion people, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top EU leadership unveiling a transformative five-year agenda to largely leverage trade and defence in protecting the rules-based world order.

The free trade agreement that will account for almost a quarter of the global GDP will reduce tariffs on 99 per cent of Indian exports to the EU and cut duties on over 97 per cent of the EU's exports to India, according to officials.

Among sectoral indices, capital goods zoomed 5.32 per cent, oil & gas (3.94 per cent), industrials (3.51 per cent), energy (3.42 per cent), power (3.11 per cent), metal (2.08 per cent) and BSE utilities (2.01 per cent).

In contrast, FMCG and consumer durables were the laggards.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,068.49 crore on Tuesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) outnumbered them by buying stocks worth Rs 8,999.71 crore, according to exchange data.

"Indian equity markets closed the session on a positive note, supported by improving global cues and renewed optimism on the external trade front following the successful conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement between India and the European Union," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended higher.

Equity markets in Europe were trading lower.

US markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday.

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Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dipped 0.62 per cent to USD 67.25 per barrel.

On Tuesday, the Sensex climbed 319.78 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 81,857.48. The Nifty surged 126.75 points or 0.51 per cent to end at 25,175.40.