Sensex rises over 200 points, Nifty trading above 17,900; Maruti, M&M, SBI top gainers

Indian benchmark indices started the week on a strong note, amid positive global cues. Sensex gained 267 points to 60,315, rising for the third consecutive session. Nifty rose 62 points to 17,915 against previous close of 17,853.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms reached a high of Rs 261.99 lakh crore.

Maruti Suzuki was the top Sensex gainer, rising 1.97% per cent, followed by M&M, SBI, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, and Bajaj Finserv. HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy's, Nestle and Tata Steel were the top Sensex losers, falling up to 1.07%. Of 30 Sensex stocks, 21 were trading higher.

Sensex closed above the 60,000-mark for the first time on September 24, led by gains in information technology (IT) and realty stocks. While Sensex ended 163 points higher at 60,048, Nifty closed at its record peak of 17,853, climbing 30 points against the previous close. During the day, Sensex touched an all-time high of 60,333 and Nifty reached an all-time peak of 17,947.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 442 crore on September 24, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 515 crore, as per provisional data available on NSE.

Global markets  

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 291 points to 24,487. The Shanghai Composite index was flat at 3,609. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 52 points to 7,394. South Korea's Kospi was flat at 3,141.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 6 points to 4,455. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 33 points to 34,798. The Nasdaq composite was flat at 15,047.