Indian share markets rallied in the afternoon session as both Sensex and Nifty hit fresh all-time highs in early trade. The rally is a result of the positive sentiment among investors due to World Bank’s latest report on Ease of Doing Business, where India, on the back of recent reforms, jumped 30 places to 100th rank.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed higher by 387 points. While, the NSE Nifty finished higher by 105 points. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Midcap Index finished up by 0.4% while the S&P BSE Small Cap Index ended up by 0.6%.

BSE sectoral indices ended the day on a mixed note. Among them, the realty sector gained the most by 2.9%, followed by banking sector 2%, while consumer durables sector & automobiles sector both finished down by 0.6% & 0.2% respectively.

Bharti Airtel, SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC were top gainers on BSE with gains to the tune of 8.5%, 4.6%, 4.4% and 2.7%, respectively.

Overseas, Asian equity markets finished broadly higher today hitting a 10-year high on the back of solid economic growth globally. The Nikkei 225 is up 1.86% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up 1.23% and China’s Shanghai Composite is up 0.08%. European markets are broadly higher today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX is up 1.26% while France’s CAC 40 is up 0.47% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.13%.

The rupee was trading at Rs 64.77 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 55 at the time of writing.

In the news from oil & gas sector, as per an article in the Economic Times, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) is likely to acquire Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) in a share-swap deal.

The merger is likely to take place after Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the country’s biggest oil and gas explorer, completes acquisition of HPCL in an all-cash deal by December or January.