Share Market Update: After witnessing a worst fall in nearly 2 months on Tuesday, domestic benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 rebounded and ended on positive note in Wednesday trade. Decent buying in blue-chip counters including HDFC twins, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India (SBI) and tech giant Infosys helped domestic bourses to settle in positive territory. However, despite the gain, the broader sentiment of the market remained subdued on the back of disappointing macro data, ongoing fall in auto sales and weak global cues.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 162 points or 0.44 per cent to settle at 36,725 while on NSE, the benchmark Nifty50 index closed at 10,845, up 47 points or 0.43 per cent. Earlier in the day, Sensex and Nifty traded on a subdued note before rising to intraday highs in the afternoon deals.

Gains in banking and steelmaker shares helped markets to recover from earlier losses. According to market reports, shares of Bharti Airtel went  up 3 per cent being the top gainer and Maruti felt down 4 per cent making it the biggest loser. Tata Steel Ltd and JSW Steel Ltd both advanced over 2 per cent, while drugmaker Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd topped gains with a 2.8 per cent jump.

Stocks of Sun Pharma, Britannial Industries, Tata Motors, Titan, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra also traded in red. Out of 50 constituents on the NSE camp, 30 advanced while 20 witnessed decline. Sectorally, auto stocks tanked the most, followed by media and realty counters.

The Nifty Auto index fell around 2 per cent to 6,782 levels. However, the metal stocks gained the most. The rupee strengthened about 0.5 per cent against the US dollar, trading at 72.05 versus the previous close of 72.40.

Amid a deepening slowdown in the economy, power demand has stood out, growing almost 7 per cent on the back of the world’s largest new consumer addition programme that has taken electricity to almost every doorstep, a report by news agency PTI said.

"Now, we are at a stage where there is universal access to electricity in India. We have left some houses in Chhattisgarh and some hamlets in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. That has led to this growth in electrical industry sector (manufacturing of equipment)," Power Minister RK Singh said while speaking to the news agency.