Stock Market News: Sensex Gains 114 Points; Nifty Settles Above 22,400. Metal Shines

Stock Market News: The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday closed in the green amid selling pressure in information technology (IT) stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex, which gained over 350 points intraday to reclaim the 74,000-mark, ended at 73,853, up 114 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 22,402, rising 34 points.

Stock update

On the 30-share Sensex platform, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, Koatak Bank, UltraCemco, NTPC emerged gainers. On the downside, TechM, TCS, Maruti, Infosys, Reliance, Titan were among the losers.    

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices outperformed the benchmarks by settling 0.92 per cent and 0.79 per cent higher, respectively. The Smallcap index hit a fresh record high during the day.

Sectoral update

Sectorally, apart from Nifty IT index, the Nifty PSU Bank, and Auto indices also edged lower, falling up to 0.23 per cent. Nifty Metal index advanced nearly 2.7 per cent.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE benchmark closed 90 points higher at 73,738, while the NSE Nifty50 ended 32 points up at 22,368.

"Indian markets lagged the Asian peers as Q4 earnings remained largely subdued with weak results from IT and a few index heavyweights results also disappointed. However, buoyed by strong manufacturing and service sectors, the Indian composite PMI hit a multi-year high, reflecting domestic resilience and bringing some buoyancy in the broad market. Globally, investor sentiment improved with easing tensions in the Middle East and declining oil prices," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research Geojit Financial Services.

Global market updates

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended the trading session in positive territory. European markets were mostly in gains, while Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday.

The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, fell by 0.35 per cent to $88.11 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 3,044.54 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data.

Rupee ends flat

The rupee remained within a narrow range and finished the day up by 1 paisa at 83.30 against the US dollar on Wednesday, as domestic equity strength was countered by a stronger US dollar. Forex traders noted that high crude oil prices and significant foreign fund outflows dampened investor sentiment.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 83.29 against the dollar. It reached an intraday high of 83.26 and a low of 83.33 against the dollar. The rupee finally settled at 83.30 (provisional) against the dollar, 1 paisa higher than its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee had closed at 83.31 against the US dollar.