Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Thursday after falling almost 300 points in the day reversed losses and ended in the green. This is the straight fifth-week winning run for the domestic indices while extending their gains after recouping all the losses on fag-end buying.
After a largely choppy session, the BSE Sensex ended marginally higher by 37 points at 60,298 after starting the trade on a weak note. During the day, it hit a high of 60,341 and a low of 59,946. On the other hand, the broader NSE Nifty gained 12 points to settle at 17,956.
On the 30-share BSE platform, Kotak Mahindra Bank (3.45 per cent), Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, and ITC were among the gainers. On the flip side, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Wipro, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, and Nestle were among the losers.
In the broader markets, BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices outperformed the frontline indices and closed at 0.4 per cent higher.
Sectorwise, Nifty Metal and Realty indices gained over 1 per cent each, while the Nifty IT fell 0.7 per cent.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the Sensex jumped 417 points (0.70 per cent) to end at 60,260. The Nifty went higher by 119 points (0.67 per cent) to 17,944.
"The Fed minutes suggest a continuation of the hawkish stance and this may slightly impact sentiments in the mother market, US. But this is unlikely to impact the bullish sentiments in India since the return of the FIIs has completely altered the market mood and the bulls are calling the shots now," said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended in the red. Markets in Europe were trading mixed during mid-session deals. Equities on Wall Street ended lower on Wednesday.
The international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.41 per cent higher at $94.97 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the Indian capital market as they bought shares worth Rs 2,347.22 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 23 paise to 79.68 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and a muted trend in domestic equities.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 79.60 against the US dollar, then fell to 79.68, registering a decline of 23 paise over the last close.
On Wednesday, the rupee gained 29 paise to settle at 79.45 against the dollar.