Stock Market: Sensex Rises 548 Points, Nifty Tops 16,600 Ahead Of Fed Policy Outcome

Stock update: Sun Pharma was the top gainer, surging 3.39 per cent, followed by State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, TCS, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, and IndusInd Bank on the BSE

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Wednesday bounced back after a two-day fall, with the domestic indices climbing nearly 1 per cent each, tracking a positive trend in European markets. Buying in IT and bank stocks also supported the recovery in equities.

The BSE Sensex climbed 548 points (0.99 per cent) to settle at 55,816. During the day, it rose 584 points (1 per cent) to 55,853. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 158 points (0.96 per cent) to 16,641.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Sun Pharma was the top gainer, surging 3.39 per cent, followed by State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, TCS, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, and IndusInd Bank. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, and Reliance Industries were the laggards, shedding up to 1.32 per cent.

On specific stock, Maruti Suzuki's shares rose by 1.62 per cent to Rs 8,660.05. Maruti Suzuki, the largest automaker in India, posted a standalone net profit of Rs 1,013 crore on Wednesday, representing an increase of 130 per cent over the same period last year.

The broader BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices underperformed at the exchanges as they advanced only up to 0.90 per cent.

On NSE, the rally was across-the-board with the Nifty Pharma and PSB indices climbing over 2 per cent each, followed by the Nifty IT index (up 1.7 per cent), and the Nifty Bank index (1 per cent).

In the previous session on Tuesday, Sensex had plunged 498 points (0.89 per cent) to close at 55,268, while Nifty had moved 147 points (0.88 per cent) lower to settle at 16,484.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Tokyo ended higher, while Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the red. Markets in Europe were trading mostly higher during mid-session deals. The US markets had ended lower on Tuesday.

"Nifty broke a two-day losing streak on July 27 ahead of the US Fed meet outcome in the evening. In the process, Nifty was one of the best performers in the Asian region," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.53 per cent to $105 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors again offloaded shares worth Rs 1,548.29 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data.