The S&P BSE benchmark Sensex kicked off trade on Thursday with a 360-point leap, fuelled by the sustained decline in fresh Covid infections and gains made by some index heavyweights amid largely positive global market trends.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 361.24 points or 0.70 per cent higher at 52,210.72 in initial deals, and the broader NSE Nifty jumped 100.25 points or 0.64 per cent to 15,676.45. Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 4 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, HDFC, ONGC and Infosys. On the other hand, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, Dr Reddy’s, SBI and Sun Pharma were among the laggards.

The BSE benchmark had ended trading on Wednesday 85.40 points or 0.16 per cent lower at 51,849.48, while Nifty had inched up 1.35 points or 0.01 per cent to 15,576.20. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market with a order book of Rs 921.10 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data.

“Domestic equities look to be good as of now. Increased optimism about economic recovery with continuous fall in daily caseload in second Covid wave and improvement in recovery rates has led domestic equities to new highs,” said Binod Modi, Head of Strategy at Reliance Securities. Further, the beginning of gradual withdrawal of restrictions by states, which hints at improvement in economic indicators from the current month, also lifted market mood, he said.

With 1,34,154 fresh cases, India’s Covid-19 tally has climbed to 2,84,41,986, while the daily positivity rate has dropped further to 6.21 per cent, the health ministry said on Thursday. India’s death toll has climbed to 3,37,989 with 2,887 more people succumbing to the infection, while the number of active Covid-19 cases was recorded below 20 lakh for the third consecutive day, according to the ministry.

While the daily positivity was recorded at 6.21 per cent on Wednesday, it remained below 10 per cent for 10 days in a row, the ministry said. The weekly positivity rate has declined to 7.66 per cent.

The number of active cases has reduced to 17,13,413, accounting for 6.02 per cent of the total number of cases, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has improved to 92.79 per cent. A net decline of 80,232 cases was recorded in the Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, the ministry said.

Recoveries continued to outnumber the fresh cases for the 21st day in a row. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 2,63,90,584, while the case fatality rate has gone up to 1.19 per cent, the data showed.

The Indian markets rallied also on the positive cues thrown up by markets around the world. Bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul were trading in the positive territory in mid-session deals, though Hong Kong was in the red. Equities on Wall Street closed with gains in the overnight session.

The international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.62 per cent higher at $71.79 per barrel.