Indian share markets continued to witness buying momentum in the afternoon session and finished on a strong note. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 213 points, while the NSE Nifty finished up 56 points. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Mid Cap and the S&P BSE Small Cap finished up by 0.4% and 1% respectively. Gains were largely seen in FMCG stocks, capital goods’ stocks and PSU stocks.

The Sensex is trading close to the 30,000 mark. There’s growing optimism following BJP’s win in the UP elections. There’s growing enthusiasm in the IPO market following D-Mart’s blockbuster listing. Indeed, the market sentiments at the start of FY18 appear to be quite optimistic.

Top Sensex Gainers and Losers of FY2016-17

As you can see, Maruti Suzuki came out as the top gainer from the 30 large cap stocks forming the BSE Sensex. It delivered 63% return in FY17, and was followed by Tata Steel and SBI, which rose 52% and 51%, respectively. On the other hand, Infosys fell the most, followed by Sun Pharma and Dr. Reddy’s Lab.

Asian stock markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.60%, while the Hang Seng & the Nikkei 225 fell 0.72% and 0.27% respectively. European markets are mixed. The FTSE 100 is higher by 0.45%, while the DAX is leading the CAC 40 lower. They are down 0.23% and 0.11% respectively.

The rupee was trading at Rs 64.39 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Brent-oil futures moved above US$56 a barrel for the first time in a month, with prices in Asia adding to overnight gains. Oil prices are on their longest winning streak since August, as production outages in Libya and Canada add to rising concerns after last week’s U.S. airstrikes in Syria.

L&T share price surged 1.8% in today’s trade after the company’s construction arm — L&T Constructions has bagged orders worth US$ 817 million amounting Rs 52.5 billion from KAHRAMAA, Qatar. The Power Transmission and Distribution Business of L&T Construction has won its single largest order in the Middle East from their esteemed customer KAHRAMAA – Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation – for its ongoing Qatar Electricity Transmission Network Expansion Plan-Phase XIII.