Share Market Today: Sensex Tests 76,850, Nifty Gains 75 Points
On the 30-share Sensex platform, PowerGrid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Maruti emerged as the gainers. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle, and Axis Bank stood among the laggards.
The stock markets started trading on Wednesday in the positive territory following a firm trend seen in the Asian indices. The BSE Sensex rallied a little over 400 points to cross 76,900 in early trade, while the NSE Nifty50 climbed almost 100 points to trade at 23,273.55.
As the session progressed, the indices pared their gains slightly but continued to trade higher. Around 11:14 AM, the Sensex jumped around 340 points and traded at 76,838.82, while the Nifty managed to cross 23,250 and climbed 75 points in the session.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, PowerGrid, NTPC, Zomato, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Maruti emerged as the gainers. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle, M&M, and Axis Bank stood among the laggards.
In the broader markets, the indices traded entirely in green. The Nifty Midcap Select index drove the gains and climbed 1.29 per cent in the session.
Sectorally, the Nifty Pharma and Healthcare Index declined a little over 1 per cent. Meanwhile, the Nifty Midsmall Financial Services index dominated in green and rallied 1.90 per cent.
Global Markets
The Asian markets remained in the positive territory, with Seoul, Hong Kong, and Tokyo trading higher. Meanwhile, Shanghai quoted lower in the session. The global oil benchmark Brent crude surged 0.14 per cent to $80.03 per barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) dumped Indian equities worth Rs 8,132.26 crore on Tuesday, official depository data revealed.
Macro Indicators
Retail inflation in December eased to a four-month low of 5.22 per cent, due to a relaxation seen in prices in the food basket. The Indian rupee depreciated 2 paise to reach 86.55 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, as the gains in the domestic equity markets were weighed down by the higher crude oil prices and major withdrawal of foreign funds. In the last trading session on Tuesday, the domestic currency recovered from its lowest-ever level and closed at 86.53 against the greenback, logging a gain of 17 paise.