The BSE Sensex on Wednesday catapulted by nearly 1148 points to end once again above the 51000-level, fuelled by energy and finance stocks as investors remained confident about the recovery of the economy.

The rally came on expectations that the forthcoming US stimulus will have a favourable effect on global economic growth.

Back home, there was good news from the services sector which in February grew at its fastest pace in the past 12 months following the rise in new orders. Dealing room circles added the good response to the second round of vaccination in the country only strengthened the undertone.

Institutions were also active with provisional data showing FPIs purchasing stocks worth Rs 2,089 crore and domestic institutions buying stocks of around Rs 393 crore.

The 30-share Sensex began on a strong note and built upon its gains to hit an intra-day high of 51539.89 — a rise of 1243 points. The Sensex gave off some of these gains to close at 51444.65 up 1147.76 points or 2.28 per cent at 51444.65 — the biggest single-day rise since February 2. Similarly, the NSE Nifty climbed 326.50 points or 2.19 per cent to end at 15245.60.

Bajaj Finserv led the the Sensex pack rising 5.18 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, up 4.52 per cent and Bajaj Finance, up 4.47 per cent.

Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC were the other big gainers of the day, rising up to 3.50 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, stocks extended their gains on Wednesday despite an overnight retreat on Wall Street.

“Stocks advanced in Asia on Wednesday after a wobbly day on Wall Street as investors focused on optimism that more imminent US stimulus will energise the global economic recovery,” according to Deepak Jasani, head of retail research, HDFC Securities,

“European stocks extended the week’s gains on Wednesday morning, with cyclical sectors leading the advance as the focus turned away from rising bond yields and toward an economic reopening,’’ Jasani said.

Experts warned of volatility as stocks may react to any adverse news on the domestic front. States such as Maharashtra have recently reported a spike in coronavirus cases.

Rupee gains

Meanwhile, in the inter-bank forex market, the rupee tracked the gains in stock prices and rose 65 paise to end at 72.72 against the dollar.

Jateen Trivedi, senior research analyst at LKP Securities said the rupee traded strongly on the back of aggressive fund inflows with vaccination rollouts for the people in the age group of 45-plus giving confidence to investors. “Going ahead 72.75-73.25 range can be witnessed.”