India’s benchmark index rallied for a second straight session on December 27, led by metals stocks after China announced further easing COVID-19 restrictions.

At the close, the Sensex was up 361.01 points or 0.6% at 60,927.43, and the Nifty was up 117.70 points or 0.65% at 18,132.30. Around 2,504 shares rose, 889 shares fell, and 120 shares remained unchanged.

After a strong start, the first half was volatile; however, second-half buying helped stocks close near the day’s highs.

Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, ONGC and Tata Motors were the biggest gainers in the Nifty. However, losers include HUL, Apollo Hospitals, Nestle India, ITC and NTPC.

Except for FMCG, all other sectoral indices closed in the green, with the Nifty Metal index up more than 4% and the Nifty PSU Banks index up more than 1%. The Nifty Bank, auto, energy, infrastructure and information technology indexes rose 0.5-0.9%.

The BSE midcap index rose 0.8%, while the smallcap index rose 1.4%. The metals index rose 4.5% on the BSE, while the capital goods, oil and gas, electricity and property indexes gained 1%.

Among individual stocks, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Hindalco Industries and Torrent Pharma surged more than 200% on heavy volume.

Jindal Steel, Nalco and Indiabulls Housing Finance posted long-term earnings, while Laurus Lab, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electrical and Exide Industries posted short-term gains.