Equity benchmarks ended higher on Wednesday amid buying in banking counters and a firm trend in global markets.
Continuing its previous day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 91.62 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 61,510.58. During the day, it jumped 361.94 points or 0.58 per cent to 61,780.90.
The broader NSE Nifty gained 23.05 points or 0.13 per cent to end at 18,267.25.
From the Sensex pack, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, Dr Reddy’s, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma, Maruti, NTPC, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank were the major winners.
Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, Titan, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finserv were among the laggards.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended higher.
Equity exchanges in Europe were trading mostly in the green in the afternoon trade. Wall Street had ended higher on Tuesday.
“Following the global trend, domestic indices continued to cautiously build gains as investors braced for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes. The declining dollar index and falling bond yield provided short-term relief, while the FIIs’ unpredictability kept investors at bay,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.05 per cent higher at USD 89.29 per barrel.
“Markets held on to modest gains in a volatile session ahead of the key FOMC minutes. Investors preferred to stay on the sidelines despite tomorrow being a November F&O series expiry day,” said Prashanth Tapse – Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.54 per cent and midcap index advanced 0.20 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, oil & gas climbed 0.68 per cent, metal 0.65 per cent, financial services 0.53 per cent, energy 0.53 per cent, healthcare 0.42 per cent, and utilities 0.32 per cent.
Commodities, FMCG, IT, telecommunication, capital goods, consumer durables and teck were the laggards.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 697.83 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data
