Mumbai, Jan 2 : Indian stock market surged by nearly 1.6 per cent in afternoon trade on Thursday as heavy buying was seen in auto, energy, private bank, infra, commodity and IT sectors on Nifty.

At around 1.39 pm, Sensex was trading at 79,766.88 after rising 1,259.47 points or 1.60 per cent, while Nifty was trading at 24,112.25 after rising 369.35 points or 1.56 per cent.

The market trend remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1,366 stocks were trading in green, while 529 stocks were in red.

Nifty Bank was up 386.45 points or 0.76 per cent at 51,447.05. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 57,740.40 after rising 289.50 points or 0.50 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 19,022.65 after rising 62.85 points or 0.33 per cent.

In the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, M&M, Infosys, Titan, UltraTech Cement, HCLTech, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank were among the top gainers. Only Sun Pharma was among the top losers.

The domestic benchmark indices opened flat in morning trade as selling was seen in the PSU bank, pharma, FMCG, realty, media, energy and metal sectors on Nifty.

According to Vaibhav Agrawal, CIO'Alternates (Public equity), MOAMC, broader markets are expected to grow earnings at 12-13 per cent in FY26.

While the FII flows remain volatile, a pickup in corporate earnings in H2 FY25 and expected easing in geopolitical tensions post Trump joining office, could turn higher foreign flows into Indian equities vs other emerging economies, said Agrawal.

However, making money in 2025 will not be as easy and broad-based as it has been in the last 4 years.

'It will be much more stock and sector specific. In that back drop we can think sectors and companies that have exposure to discretionary consumption, energy transition, electronics manufacturing and capital markets sectors may perform relatively better,' said Agrawal.

/IANS