Stock Market: Sensex Rises 390 Points, Nifty Ends Above 18,150 Tracking Global Cues. Metals Up 1.5%

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, the top winners were Tata Steel, L&T, HDFC, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Airtel

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Wednesday extended their gains to a second session supported by stable global cues and selected financial and metal stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex, which declined to a low of 60,569 during intraday trade, firmed up to close 390 points higher at 61,046. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 settled at 18,165, up 112 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, the top winners were Tata Steel, L&T, HDFC, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Airtel, and others. On the flip side, Tata Motors, UltraCemco, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Bajaj Finserv and others were the main losers.

Among stocks, Adani Enterprises closed 1.5 per cent down. The company has filed papers for its Rs 20,000-crore FPO, which will remain open between Jan 27-31. As per the RHP, it will use Rs 10,900 crore of the total proceeds towards capex in airport and green businesses.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended with slimmer gains of 0.5 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

Within sectors, the Nifty metal index closed with most strength, up 1.5 per cent, followed by financials and pharma pockets, while PSB index slumped the most by over 1 per cent.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed at 60,656, up 563 points. On the other hand, Nifty50 closed at 18,053 levels, up 158 points.

Meanwhile, the rupee pared its initial losses and settled 44 paise higher at 81.25 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking a weak greenback overseas and a firm trend in domestic equities. However, rising crude oil prices capped the gains in the rupee, traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened weak at 81.80, but pared the losses and settled for the day at 81.25 (provisional), registering a rise of 44 paise over its previous close.

During the trading session, the local unit witnessed an intra-day high of 81.25 and a low of 81.82 against the American currency. On Tuesday, the rupee had closed at 81.69 against the US dollar.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.38 per cent to $87.11 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 211.06 crore, according to exchange data.