Sensex Rises Over 400 Points, Nifty Trades Above 17,350; Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Among Top Gainers

New Delhi: The Indian equity benchmarks surged on Thursday led by gains in Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv and Wipro on positive global cues. Asian stocks followed Wall Street to trade higher after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would end bond-buying stimulus in March to set up three interest rate increases next year to tackle heated inflation. "The economy no longer needs increasing amounts of policy support," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said.

As of 9:20 am, the 30-share Sensex pack was up 419 points or 0.73 per cent at 58,208 and the broader NSE Nifty moved 152 points or 0.88 per cent up to 17,373.

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading in green as Nifty Midcap 100 index was up 0.51 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.85 per cent.

Bajaj Finance was the top Nifty gainer, the stock jumped 2.51 per cent to Rs 7,018. Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro and IOC were also among the gainers.

On the flipside, Tata Consumer Products, Hindustan Unilever Sun Pharma, Cipla and Hero MotorCorp were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,921 shares were advancing while 541 were declining on BSE.

On the BSE platform, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and Tata Steel attracted the most gains with their shares rising as much as 2.21 per cent in opening deals.