Stock Market: Sensex Gains 302 Points, Nifty Around 19,850 In Range-Bound Trading. PSU Banks Lead

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, UltraCemco, Bajaj Finserv, SBI, were among the lead gianers, rising between 1 per cent and 3 per cent

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday made a range-bound trading, with indices scaling fresh lifetime highs during the day. The S&P BSE Sensex settled 302 points higher at 67,097 levels. On the other hand, the Nifty50 closed at 19,833, up 84 points. The Sensex and Nifty hit new record peaks of 67,117 and 19,842 during intra-day trade.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, UltraCemco, Bajaj Finserv, SBI, were among the lead gianers, rising between 1 per cent and 3 per cent. On the downside, TCS, Airtel, Maruti, HUL, Nestle, ICICI Bank emerged losers.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices outperformed the frontline indices gaining 0.6 per cent each.

Sectorwise, the Nifty PSU Bank index climbed 2 per cent, followed by the Nifty Media index (up 1 per cent). The Nifty IT index ended flat.

About 1,961 shares advanced, 1,360 shares declined, while 119 shares remain unchanged.

The Rs 631-crore issue was subscribed nearly 86 times till 3:30 PM on the final day of bidding. QIB portion was subscribed the most at 216 times, followed by NII (80 times), Employees (46 times), and retail 18 times). Bidding closes at 5 pm on Wednesday.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 66,795, up 205 points, after hitting an all-time high of 67,007 during the day. On the other hand, the Nifty50, closed 38 points up at 19,749, from a record peak of 19,819.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday retained India's economic growth forecast at 6.4 per cent for the current financial year and 6.7 per cent for the next, saying robust domestic demand will continue to support the region's recovery.

"Despite the current high levels, domestic investors have hardly lost confidence in the Indian economy. It is experiencing a broad based rally strengthened by encouraging domestic macroeconomic data and sustained inflows from FIIs. Although there was some initial profit booking today, the market confidently recovered, with buying observed in all major sectors except auto and IT. Additionally, the global market is providing comfort to the rally, in anticipation of moderation in global inflation," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai ended in the green while Hong Kong lowered. Equity markets in Europe were quoting in the green. The US markets ended in the positive territory on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying activity on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 2,115.84 crore, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.60 per cent to $80.11 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated by 6 paise to close at 82.10 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, weighed down by the rebound in the American currency in global markets and firm crude oil prices. Traders said domestic equity benchmarks scaling all-time high levels and sustained foreign fund inflows boosted investor sentiments and restricted the depreciating bias.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.08 against the dollar and settled at 82.10 (provisional), down 6 paise from its previous close. During the day, the rupee touched a high of 82.07 and a low of 82.15 against the greenback. On Tuesday, the rupee had settled at 82.04 against the dollar.