Mumbai, Jan 2 (IANS) After a muted beginning, the Indian stock market welcomed 2025 with a bang on Thursday, surging more than 1,400 points, or 1.83 per cent, as auto stocks saw a bumper rally on the back of strong car sales data for December.The Nifty auto index gained 3.79 per cent. Sensex ended at 79,943.71, up by 1,436.30 points, or 1.83 per cent, and Nifty settled at 24,188.65, up by 445.75 points, or 1.88 per cent. Sensex logged an intra-day high at 80,032.87, while Nifty surged to the day's high at 24,226.70.

Nifty Bank ended at 51,605.55, up by 544.95 points, or 1.07 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 58,108.20 after rising 657.30 points, or 1.14 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 19,080.35 after rising 120.55 points, or 0.64 per cent. On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 2,400 shares ended in green and 1,571 shares in red, whereas there was no change in 115 shares. On the sectoral front, heavy buying was seen in the Auto, IT, Consumption, Financial Service, FMCG and Realty sectors on the NSE.

According to market experts, increased momentum was observed in the domestic market, driven by optimism about the upcoming earnings season starting next week. The rally was broad-based, with most sectoral indices posting gains, they said. "The auto sector led the way, showing the strongest momentum due to robust December sales that defied the usual subdued demand. Banking and IT stocks also performed well, as the economy bottomed in Q2," an expert said.

In the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, Titan, M&M, Infosys, HCLTech, Zomato, UltraTech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and IndusInd Bank were among the top gainers. Only Sun Pharma was among the top losers. FIIs sold equities worth Rs 1,782.71 crore on January 1, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,690.37 crore on the same day.

/IANS