New Delhi: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty on Friday spurted by nearly 2 percent propelled by heavy buying in IT, metal, and financial stocks amid a rally in global markets after lower-than-expected US inflation data.

The 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 1,181.34 points or 1.95 percent to settle at 61,795.04

A strong rupee against the US dollar and unabated foreign capital inflows further bolstered sentiment, traders said.

Easing US inflation triggered speculation that the US Federal Reserve might slow down the pace of interest rate hikes.

The 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 1,181.34 points or 1.95 percent to settle at 61,795.04. During the day, it witnessed a high of 61,840.97 and a low of 61,311.02. Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty rallied 321.50 points or 1.78 percent to finish at 18,349.70.

Among Sensex stocks, HDFC emerged as the lead gainer, rising by 5.84 percent, followed by HDFC Bank, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, TCS, Wipro, Tata Steel, and Reliance Industries. On the other hand, M&M, SBI, Kotak Bank, Dr. Reddy’s, ICICI Bank, and NTPC were among the losers.