The BSE benchmark surged 318.74 points or 0.42 per cent to reach 77,042.82, after touching an intraday peak of 77,319.50, marking a rise of 595.42 points or 0.77 per cent.

The biggest Sensex gainers included Adani Ports, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, Airtel and Tata Motors while losers were HCL Tech, Nestle Infosys, HUL and ITC

Indian benchmark indices rose for a third straight session on Thursday, driven by gains in financial heavyweights and Reliance Industries. Eased U.S. inflation in December boosted hopes of further rate cuts by the U.

Reliance Industries Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Maruti Suzuki Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro added to the Nifty 50 index.

Highlights:Among the broader markets, the Nifty Midcap100 and Nifty Smallcap100 ended with gains of 0.41 per cent and 0.56 per cent, respectively

The BSE Sensex rose 318.74 points, or 0.42%, to 77,042.82. Likewise, Nifty 50 gained 98.60 points, or 0.42%, to 23,311.80.

Adani Enterprises, Trent, and BPCL among others fell up to 6 per cent on NSE. Nifty Realty, Metal, Consumer Durables bled among sectors falling up to 6 per cent. The BSE MidCap index plunged 4.18 per cent, while the BSE SmallCap index dropped 4.03 per cent.

The trends on Gift Nifty also indicate a positive start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 23,405 level, a premium of nearly 140 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.