Indian equity benchmarks surged in one-hour special Diwali Muhurat trading session to mark the beginning of Samvat 2078, the Hindu New year. The Sensex rose as much as 436 points to hit an intraday high of 60,208 and Nifty 50 index moved above its important psychological level of 17,900 led by gains in HDFC Bank, Infosys, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consultancy Services and Axis Bank amid positive global cues.

As of 6:20 pm, the Sensex was up 347 points at 60,119 and Nifty 50 index advanced 102 points to 17,932.

World stocks hit a record high on Thursday after a smooth start to the US Federal Reserve’s mass stimulus unwind plan and as traders waited to see if the Bank of England would be the first major central bank to raise interest rates since COVID hit.