New Delhi, Jan. 4 -- The Indian stock market posted solid gains on Friday, January 2, driven by broad-based buying across sectors amid rising optimism ahead of the Q3 earnings season.

The Sensex surged 573 points, or 0.67%, to close at 85,762.01. The Nifty 50 scaled an intraday all-time high of 26,340 before trimming gains to end at a record closing level of 26,328.55, up 182 points, or 0.70%. Meanwhile, the BSE Midcap index gained 0.97%, and the Smallcap index rose 0.79%.

" Indian equities began the New Year on a strong note, gaining around 1% and decisively breaking out of a five-week consolidation phase. While the start of the week was slightly subdued amid mixed cues, a sharp rebound in the final sessions enabled benchmark indices t...