Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher on Wednesday, marking their fourth straight session of gains on the back of buying in index majors Reliance Industries and HDFC twins.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 146.59 points or 0.25 per cent to settle at 59,107.19 even as 11 of its constituents gained while 19 declined. During the day, it rallied 439.09 points or 0.74 per cent to 59,399.69.

The broader NSE Nifty advanced 25.30 points or 0.14 per cent to end at 17,512.25 with 18 of its stocks ending higher and 32 closing lower.

Major gainers and losers

Heavy buying in HDFC, Reliance Industries and Nestle helped indices close higher for a fourth straight session. Sensex and Nifty gained more than 3 per cent in the four-day rally.

From the Sensex pack, HDFC rose the most by 2.13 per cent. Nestle rose by 1.91 per cent, Reliance Industries by 1.88 per cent, ITC by 1.79 per cent, HDFC Bank by 1.02 per cent and UltraTech Cement by 0.89 per cent.

IT, pharma and most of the banking stocks succumbed to selling pressure.

NTPC fell the most by 1.77 per cent while State Bank of India declined 1.64 per cent, and Bajaj Finserv by 1.56 per cent. HCL Technologies, Dr Reddy's, Infosys and Maruti were among the laggards.

"European markets interrupted their winning run after a 40-year high CPI in the UK. However, the strong US market due to healthy corporate result announcements is helping the domestic market to sustain the positive trend," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said after the initial uptick, the key indices witnessed a gradual decline as participants preferred to book some profits off the table.

Most sectors traded in line with the move and ended flat to marginal in the green. The broader indices too witnessed a similar trend.

Services, energy indices gain

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge ended marginally higher by 0.13 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.03 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, services climbed 0.46 per cent, energy by 0.45 per cent, FMCG (0.42 per cent), realty (0.38 per cent) and financial services (0.32 per cent).

However, utilities, power, teck, metal, IT and commodities fell by up to 1.61 per cent.

Among other Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower, while Tokyo settled in the green.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.72 per cent higher at USD 90.54 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 153.40 crore, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee plunged 61 paise to record low of 83 mark against the US currency on heavy dollar demand and forex outflows.

Related Topics