Bulls continue their charge on Dalal Street as Nifty claims 21,500

Equity benchmark indices, the Nifty and the Sensex, maintained their winning run for the fourth day running on Wednesday, helped by optimism over the country's macroeconomic fundamentals and firm global market trends. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 289.93 points to 71,626.73 in early trade. The Nifty climbed 90.45 points to 21,531.80. At the time of publishing, the Nifty was up 130 points while the Sensex was up 430 points.

Among the Sensex firms, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro and Power Grid were the major gainers.

Asian Paints, NTPC, Maruti and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted with gains while Seoul traded lower.

The US markets ended in the green on Tuesday.

"The resilience of the market even in the holiday season, which is normally devoid of much action, is an indication of its underlying bullishness. The global support to the market from the mother market US where the S&P 500 is close to all-time high is significant," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.07% to USD 8 p1.01 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 95.20 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark climbed 229.84 points or 0.32% to settle at 71,336.80 on Tuesday. The Nifty advanced 91.95 points or 0.43% to 21,441.35.