Equity benchmark Sensex climbed over 230 points to reclaim the 61,000-mark on Monday, propelled by robust buying in bank, auto and metal stocks amid a firm trend in global equities. A strong rupee against the US dollar and persistent foreign capital inflows also supported the domestic equities, traders said.Rising for the second straight day, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 234.79 points or 0.39 per cent higher at 61,185.15 after a choppy session.

The index witnessed a high of 61,401.54 and a low of 60,714.36 during the session. The broader NSE Nifty rose by 85.65 points or 0.47 per cent to end at 18,202.80 points. State Bank of India (SBI) topped the Sensex gainers' chart, jumping 3.44 per cent, after the country's largest lender on Saturday posted its highest-ever quarterly profit at Rs 13,265 crore, up 74 per cent year-on-year, for the September quarter, buoyed by robust loan sales, higher interest income and lower provisions. Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, M-M, Maruti, PowerGrid and HDFC Bank were among the other major winners, climbing up to 1.81 per cent. In contrast, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, Titan, Kotak Bank and Dr Reddy's were among the laggards, dropping as much as 2.37 per cent.

The market breadth was in favour of the bulls, with 18 of the 30 Sensex counters closing in the green. “The domestic market battled to find a clear direction but it ended up making gains.

Losses in pharmaceutical companies were offset by buying in PSU banks, auto, and metal equ­ities.

PSU banks took the lead in the rally as major sector players announced solid results. “Fall in oil prices as China disputed rumours of lifting Covid restrictions and stronger US jobs data showed that the US economy is expanding, helped market.

However, investors will await US inflation data for market direction as there aren’t many domestic clues left as the corporate earnings season is drawing to close with a negative bias,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)