The 30-pack BSE Sensex tanked 872 points or 1.46 per cent, to end below the 59,000 level at 58,773.87. Nifty50, meanwhile, fell 267.8 points to end at 17,490.70.

ETMarkets caught up with Rahul Shah, Co-Head of Research at Equitymaster, to know what strategy investors should adopt at the current juncture. Shah talked about factors to watch going ahead; he also spoke about his top sectoral bets and also on the IPO market that saw a lull of late.

27 shares from the 30-share pack settled with cuts led by IndusInd Bank, falling over 4 per cent, Bajaj twins, Tata Steel, SBI, Maruti, ICICI Bank, and Reliance falling over 2-3 per cent each. NTPC, M&M, HUL, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, and Sun Pharma also settled sharply lower.

After opening lower on weakness in IT and pharma stocks, domestic shares were muted for most of the session but staged a rebound in the final hour of trade. The 30-share pack Sensex recovered 352 points from the day's low and ended only 37.87 points higher but still above the 60,200 mark. Its broader peer, Nifty50, also managed to settle above the 17,950 mark.

The 30-share pack settled 417.92 points higher at 60,260.13. Its broader peer, Nifty50, advanced 119 points and managed to top the 17,900 mark. This was the seventh consecutive day of gains for the index.

The 30-share Sensex advanced 379.43 points to end at 59,842.21. Its broader peer, Nifty50, also ended the session comfortably above the 17,800 mark, led by auto, realty and oil and gas scrips. Nifty50 posted its highest level since April 5 at close.

The momentum in the market has been so strong that benchmark indices have settled higher in 10 sessions out of the last 12. While bets that Fed would go slow on rate hikes increased after a surprise fall in inflation in the US, at home, earnings did not disappoint much. FPIs are back and the outlook for the market is only improving. But post the recent rally, have valuations stretched?

The 30-share pack Sensex advanced 130.18 points to close at 59,462.78. Its broader peer, Nifty50, added 39.15 points to close above near the 17,700 mark. The benchmark rose 1.5 per cent this week.

Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC, Tech Mahindra, TCS, SBI and Wipro were among the top gainers and ended the session with over 2 per cent gains, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank and HDFC Bank. ITC, NTPC and HUL were the top laggards in Thursday's trading session, falling around 1 per cent.

In a bland session after a 1-day break, domestic equity benchmarks gave up early gains on Wednesday to end below the flatline as tech stocks inched lower, while traders awaited US inflation data for cues on the pace of rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. Weakness in Asian markets also dampened sentiment.