The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex gained 245.11 points to close at 26,878.24 and National Stock Exchange Nifty rose by 83.30 points to touch 8,273.80 on Thursday as Indian stocks followed positive cues from Asian markets and Wall Street gains. Besides, the hope that the Centre will achieve its fiscal deficit target set the market soaring. This came after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that tax collections would exceed the 2016-2017 Union Budget’s estimate of Rs 16.3 lakh crore.

Automobile and telecom stocks were bought heavily by investors during early morning trading. Tata Motors was among the best performing stocks of the day, with its share price rising by 2.93%. This came after the company-owned Jaguar Land Rover reported a 30% rise in sales in the United States during December 2016, according to Business Standard. Meanwhile, the BSE Auto Index rose by 1.2%, while the BSE Industrials and BSE Metal indices rose by 1% and 0.9%.

The BSE Telecom index also gained 0.36%, with the shares of Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular rising by 1.24% and 0.81%. Angel Broking executive Amar Singh told NDTV that the Nifty was likely to face some pressure at the 8,300-mark. However, Geojit BNP Paribas said the “firm support” offered to the Nifty on every fall suggested the possibility of “more upsides”.

Asian markets also gained, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rising by 1% and the Shanghai Composite adding 0.1% to its value, AP reported. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.4%. Indices in Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan also rose. This came after the release of the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s December meeting. Bank officials had discussed the impact of Donald Trump’s proposed economic stimulus and attributed rising stock prices and bond rates to positive sentiment regarding the US President-elect’s plans. Trump will take office on January 20.