Stock Market: Sensex Rises 37 Points, Nifty Above 18,600 Amid Volatility. NDTV Up 5 Per Cent

Stock update: Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Reddy's, Tata Steel, Nestle, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank, and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers on the S&P Sensex

After a muted start, Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmark indices, continued their rally in early trade on Wednesday amid volatility. The indices gained following buying in banking counters and largely positive trend in other Asian markets and continuous foreign fund inflows.

The BSE Sensex went up by 37 points to 62,719, while the NSE Nifty rose by 20 points to 18,637.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Reddy's, Tata Steel, Nestle, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank, and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers. On the flip side, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Power Grid were among the laggards.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices gained 0.4 per cent each.

Sectorwise, all but the Nifty IT swam in green. While the the index slipped 0.6 per cent, the Nifty Metal index rose 1.3 per cent, followed by the Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, and Pharma indices, all up 0.4 per cent each.

Among individual stocks, NDTV shares hit their 5 per cent upper circuit after promoters Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy resigned as RRPR directors.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE benchmark gained 177.04 points or 0.28 per cent to settle at 62,681.84, its fresh record closing high on Tuesday. The Nifty advanced 55.30 points or 0.30 per cent to end at 18,618.05, its fresh record closing high.

"An important feature of the ongoing rally which has taken the Sensex and Nifty to record highs is that this is a mature rally led by high quality stocks in performing sectors," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading higher while in Tokyo, shares were trading lower. Wall Street had ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.

The US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech on Wednesday will be closely watched by global markets for cues on rate hike trajectory.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.95 per cent higher at $83.87 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,241.57 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 17 paise to 81.55 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday on broad dollar weakness and a positive trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.63 against the dollar, then gained ground to touch 81.55, registering a rise of 17 paise over its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee declined 4 paise to close at 81.72 against the US dollar.