India's Sensex reclaims 60,000 points mark; banking stocks climb

Mumbai: The Indian equity markets benchmark Sensex soared past the 60,000 points mark on Wednesday led by good buying support in banking and financial stocks.

The 30 stock S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange opened on a positive note at 59,921.98 points and surged to a high of 60,027.76 points in the morning trade. However, the index later slipped into negative.

At 10.58 am, the Sensex was trading at 59,798.23 points, 57.7 points or 0.10 per cent lower from its previous day's close at 59,855.93 points. The Sensex touched a low of 59,661.38 points in the morning trade.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was trading at 17,800.75 points, which is 0.03 per cent or 4.50 points lower from its previous day's close at 17,805.25 points. The Nifty 50 touched a high of 17,854.10 points and low of 17,748.85 points in the morning trade.

There was good buying support in banking and financial stocks while IT and energy stocks witnessed selling pressure.

Bajaj Finance surged 3.42 per cent to Rs 7594.10. Bajaj Finserv jumped 2.79 per cent to Rs 17590. Asian Paints 1.91 per cent higher at Rs 3522.20; Axis Bank 1.79 per cent at Rs 721.35; ICICI Bank 1.69 per cent at Rs 786; Tata Steel 1.64 per cent higher at Rs 1166.55 and HDFC Bank 1.28 per cent higher at Rs 1548 were among the major Sensex gainers.

IT stocks witnessed selling pressure. Tech Mahindra slumped 2.75 per cent to Rs 1738.20. Infosys fell 2.45 per cent to Rs 1846.15. Wipro 2.39 per cent down at Rs 704.30; HCL Technologies 2.21 per cent down at Rs 1304.45; TCS 1.58 per cent down at Rs 3821.50 were among the Sensex losers.