Stock Market: Sensex Gains 243 Points, Nifty Reclaims 18,000 On Late Buying. Reliance Rises 2 Per Cent

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, TechM, Reliance, Bajaj Finserv, Airtel, M&M, Tata Steel were the major winners. HUL, ITC, Sun Pharma, HDFC, L&T, IndusInd Bank emerged losers

The key equity benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, secured decent gains in late trades on Wednesday, led by index heavyweight Reliance Industries.

The S&P Sensex gained 243 points to 61,275. The NSE Nifty reclaimed the 18,000-mark, settling with gain of 86 points at 18,016.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, TechM, Reliance, Bajaj Finserv, Airtel, M&M, Tata Steel were the major winners. On the flip side, HUL, ITC, Sun Pharma, HDFC, L&T, IndusInd Bank emerged losers.

Among specific stocks, Torrent Power soared over 10 per cent to Rs 504 after the company reported a 88 per cent growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 695 crore on a YoY basis. The company also announced an interim dividend of Rs 22 per share, including a special dividend of Rs 13 per share.

On the other hand, Bharat Forge shed 4.4 per cent a day after reporting weak Q3 performance. The company's overseas operations posted an EBITDA loss of Rs 62 crore in December quarter due to ramp up related issues of the new Al forgings capacities in Germany and the US.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index advanced 0.7 per cent, and the Smallcap added 0.4 per cent.

Sectorwise, the IT, Auto and Realty indices gained over a per cent each. The overall breadth was marginally positive, with nearly 1,800 shares advancing versus 1,670 declining stocks on the BSE.

"The US inflation, though it slowed down compared to the previous month, came in higher than expected at 6.4 per cent YoY. Higher inflation, combined with a strong labour market, has raised concerns that the Fed will remain hawkish for an extended period. Despite a sluggish start in the domestic market, recovery in the IT and auto sectors contributed to a positive finish. A reversal in the FII pattern to net buying has also helped maintain optimism in the domestic market,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services in a note.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 600 points to settle at 61,032. On the other hand, the Nifty50 gained 159 points to end at 17,930.

Meanwhile, the rupee pared most of its initial losses to close down by 4 paise at 82.82 (provisional) against the US currency on Wednesday on lower trade deficit data for the month of January. Forex traders said a stronger American currency in the overseas markets capped the appreciation bias.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened lower at 82.90 against the greenback amid early losses in domestic equities. The local unit recovered some ground later in the day in line with equities to close at 82.82 (provisional), down 4 paise over its previous close of 82.78.

During the session the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 82.79 and a low of 82.90 against the American dollar.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 1.22 per cent to $84.54 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,305.30 crore, according to exchange data.