Stock Market: Sensex Rebounds, Gains 149 Points; Nifty Above 19,600 On Late Buying. Metals, Oil & Gas Lead

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, JSW, Tata Motors, M&M, Tata Steel, Titan, ITC were the gainers. Bajaj Finance, Maruti, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, Axis Bank emerged losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday rebounded during in the latter half of the trading session, led by strong gains in metal shares, a day ahead of the RBI policy outcome scheduled for Thursday. The BSE Sensex rose 149 points to 65,996. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 19,633, up 62 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, JSW, Tata Motors, M&M, Tata Steel, Titan, ITC were among the gainers. On the downside, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, Axis Bank emerged losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index rose 0.4 per cent and Smallcap index gained 0.5 per cent.

Sectorwise, metal index gained 2.3 per cent and oil & gas index rose 1 per cent. The FMCG, capital goods, healthcare indices up 0.5 per cent each. However, realty index went down 1.3 per cent and bank index down 0.2 per cent.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the Sensex settled 107 points lower at 65,847. The NSE Nifty50 closed with a loss of 26 points at 19,571.

"The domestic market started adopting a defensive stance as investors awaited crucial inflation data for India and the US. The deflationary trend in China and the downgrade of the US mid and small-sized banks affected the market sentiment. However, a late recovery in the domestic market was supported by a positive uptick in the European market and hope of an optimistic RBI policy not impacting domestic economic growth," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Tokyo and Shanghai settled lower, while Seoul and Hong Kong ended in the green. European markets were trading in positive territory. The US markets ended in the negative territory in overnight trade on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 711.34 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.79 per cent to $86.85 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 5 paise to settle at 82.86 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, supported by a weak American currency against major rivals overseas. However, foreign capital outflows and surging crude prices in the international markets capped the positive bias in the rupee, forex analysts said.

Investors were trading cautiously ahead of the US inflation data and RBI's monetary policy decision to be released on Thursday. The Reserve Bank's rate-setting panel MPC started its three-day review meeting on Tuesday.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened stronger at 82.83 and finally settled at 82.86 (provisional) against the dollar, registering a gain of 5 paise over its previous close. During intra-day, the local unit touched the peak of 82.80 and hit a low of 82.86 against the greenback.