Stock Market: Sensex Rises 268 Points, Nifty Trades Above 17,450 Amid Mixed Cues. Bajaj Twins Lead

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj twins, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Titan, ITC, L&T emerged early winners. HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Maruti, ICICI Bank, SBI were among the losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday were trading in the green amid mixed global cues. The domestic indices, however, opened flat during opening trade.

At 9.40 am, the BSE Sensex was up 268 points to 59,374. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty was trading at 17,470, up 72 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj twins, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Titan, ITC, L&T emerged early winners. On the flip side, HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Maruti, ICICI Bank, SBI were among the losers.

Shares of Bajaj Finance surged 2 per cent after the lender reported 20 per cent YoY growth in new loan bookings for the March quarter.

In the broader markets, Smallcap 100 index outperformed Nifty Midcap 100 index.

Sectorwise, Nifty Financial Services index gained the most, over 0.6 per cent. Nifty Metal, Nifty IT, and Nifty Healthcare indices, meanwhile, remain bogged down in trade.

In the previous session on Monday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 59,106, up 115 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty ended at 17,398, up 38 points. Stock markets were closed on Tuesday on account of Mahavir Jayanti.

Investors are also waiting for the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision on Thursday amid inflation remaining relatively high.  

On Tuesday, the US market closed in the red while European shares ended on a mixed note.    

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities said investors in the US weighed the decline in factory orders and data hinting at a softening of the country's labour market.    

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market on Monday as they purchased shares worth Rs 321.93 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated by 24 paise to 82.08 against the US currency in early trade on Wednesday due to a weak dollar in overseas markets and forex inflows.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened higher at 82.08 against the US dollar and moved in a narrow range of 82.04 to 82.10 later in early deals. The local unit was trading at 82.08 to a dollar at 9.35 AM. It had closed at 82.32 on Monday. Forex markets were closed on Tuesday for Mahavir Jayanti.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, declined 0.03 per cent to 101.56 after a weak set of economic data bolstered expectations of the end of US Fed rate hike cycle.