Mumbai: The market's upward momentum continued on positive domestic cues, with the Sensex gaining 568 points or 0.94 per cent to close for the first time above the 61000 mark at 61,305.95. The Nifty-50 too gained 176.80 points or 0.97 per cent to close at 18338.55.
The market will be closed on Friday on the occasion of Dussehra.
During the holiday shortened week the Sensex gained 2.6 per cent while the Nifty-50 gained 2.9 per cent. Foreign portfolio investors were net buyers of equities worth Rs 1,681.60 crore on Thursday while the dom-estic institutions booked profit worth Rs 1,750.59 crore.
Financials gained the most ahead of HDFC Bank Q2 numbers to be released on Saturday, with the BSE bankex up 1.67 per cent led by HDFC Bank (2.86 per cent) and ICICI Bank (2.44 per cent.)
Mid-cap IT stocks rallied after Infosys, Wipro and Mindtree's second quarter performance boosted market sentiments, though TCS and HCL Tech saw some profit taking.
