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The index seems to have sent signs of upside breakout after closing above the range of 16,700-800, and the same will be confirmed on a move above 17,000 level, said analysts.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 76.63 against the American dollar. It regained some lost ground during the session but remained in the negative territory as investors turned towards safe-haven assets.

“Our focus sectors now would be IT, pharma as well as financials. We have been more bullish on non-fund based financials than fund based financials. But from here on, we feel even the fund-based financials can do well. So big corporate banks and select NBFCs can do well and can pass on the upcoming interest rate hikes from these levels.”

The Nifty Realty index was trading 1.82 per cent down at 422.35.

Investor wealth, reflected in the total m-cap of BSE-listed firms, jumped by over Rs 13 lakh crore in the last one week, in tandem with a sharp recovery in Indian equities. Both Sensex and Nifty advanced 6.9% and 6.35% in the last five sessions.

Auto stocks climbed 4.1% to lead gains among sectors. Volkswagen AG surged 6.6% as higher prices and a more favourable product mix boosted its operating profit.

“The central banks in the western developed economies are significantly behind the curve. In that scenario, the traditional defensives may not work because even if there is a slowdown and not a recession, while the central banks will have to keep hiking rates,” says CIO-Equity Investments of Nippon India MF.

Bloomberg, earlier in the day, reported Paytm Payments Bank was barred from taking on new customers because it violated rules by allowing data to flow to servers abroad and didn’t properly verify its customers.

Diversified FMCG company Ruchi Soya will launch its follow-on public offer on March 24. A follow-on offering is an issuance of additional shares made by a company after an initial public offering.

“For Bernstein, the big call is to look at the defensive side of the market which can either be played through high quality stocks or even through low volatility stocks. The high quality low volatility sectors would be healthcare, staples, technology. Within value, late cycle inflation hedges will do well.”