Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty surged nearly 2 per cent on Thursday, registering their fourth day of rally, as investors turned buoyant after foreign investors returned to domestic equities amid expectations of a breakthrough in US-Japan trade negotiations over reciprocal tariffs.

The 30-share benchmark index was trading at 78553.2 up by 1508.91 points or by 1.96 % and then NSE Nifty was at 23851.65 up by 414.45 points or by 1.77 %.

Sensex touched intraday high of 78616.77 and intraday low of 76665.77 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 23872.35 and intraday low of 23298.55

The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were Eternal Ltd. (Rs. 231.75,+4.37%), ICICI Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1406.65,+3.68%), Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Rs. 1889.20,+3.63%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Rs. 1751.95,+3.50%), State Bank of India (Rs. 797.10,+3.28%), among others.

The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 1305.85,-0.24%), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (Rs. 11660.00,-0.04%), among others.

Bankex index was at 62293.27 up by 1557.21 points or by 2.56%. ICICI Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1406.65,+3.68%), State Bank of India (Rs. 797.10,+3.28%), Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (Rs. 2188.00,+3.06%), Axis Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1190.65,+2.51%), HDFC Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1906.55,+1.53%),.

IT index was at 32946.5 down by 79.51 points or by 0.24%. Sonata Software Ltd. (Rs. 314.75,-6.11%), Wipro Ltd. (Rs. 236.90,-4.28%), 63 Moons Technologies Ltd. (Rs. 719.70,-2.97%), Vakrangee Ltd. (Rs. 9.78,-2.10%), Newgen Software Technologies Ltd. (Rs. 923.00,-2.04%),.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 4351 , shares advanced were 2567 while 1599 shares declined and 185 were unchanged.