The equity benchmarks recovered from early lows and climbed for the second consecutive session with Sensex rising 446 points to close at 59,745 and Nifty 50 index rose 131 points to settle at 17,822.

In the first half of the session, benchmarks fluctuated between gains and losses due to weak global cues. However, late buying in index heavyweights like Reliance, Infosys, TCS,Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank lifted the benchmarks.

Nine of 15 sector gauges compiled by the NSE ended higher led by the Nifty Oil & Gas index's 2.8 per cent gain. IT, media, private bank, healthcare and auto shares also witnessed buying interest. On the other hand, FMCG, Pharma, PSU Bank and Realty indexes closed lower. Mid- and small-cap shares also seen buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indexes rose 0.4 per cent.

IT stocks were also in demand amid weak rupee. Meanwhile, pharma and realty shares witnessed selling pressure. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.33 percent while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.54 percent. The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,073 shares rose and 1,210 shares fell. A total of 166 shares were unchanged.

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