Stock Market Today: Sensex Jumps 268 Points; Nifty Around 21,850. PSU Banks, Oil & Gas Lead

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, M&M, Nestle, L&T, ITC, Titan, HUL were among the lead gainers. On the downside, TechM, UltraCemco, and HCLTech emerged losers

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices pared their losses and settled up to 1.3 per cent higher.

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, recouped their losses and rebounded during the fag-end buying in energy, metal, and utility stocks. The BSE Sensex index closed 268 points higher at 71,883. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was closed at 21,840, up 97 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, M&M, Nestle, L&T, ITC, Titan, HUL were among the lead gainers. On the downside, TechM, UltraCemco, and HCLTech emerged losers.

#ABPStockMarketWatch | Sensex and Nifty, recouped their losses and rebounded during the fag-end buying, on Wednesday

At 04:00 PM, #Sensex gained 268 points to 71,823 & #Nifty gained 97 points to close at 21,840

Here's a look at the stocks in focus:#ABPLive #ClosingBell… pic.twitter.com/T38ojVtlYE

— ABP LIVE (@abplive) February 14, 2024

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices pared their losses and settled up to 1.3 per cent higher.

Sectorally, PSU Bank and Oil & Gas indices advanced 3 per cent each, while auto, bank, FMCG, capital goods, metal, power and realty rose 1.2 per cent each. On the flip side, IT and Pharma stocks were down 1 per cent each.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 483 points higher at 71,555, while the NSE Nifty50 shut shop at 21,743, up 127 points.

"The domestic market staged a recovery from day’s low, buoyed by renewed buying interest in banking stocks. Improving asset quality and the government's continued focus on fiscal prudence attracted PSU banks, yet concerns lingered regarding their elevated valuations," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 settled in the negative territory while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi indices ended in the green. China's financial markets are closed for the Lunar New Year holidays. European markets were trading on a positive note in early deals. The US market ended with significant losses in the overnight trade on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.78 per cent to $82.64 a barrel on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 376.32 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India rupee rose 5 paise to close at 83.03 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking positive domestic equities. Forex traders said strength of the American currency in the overseas market and elevated crude oil prices weighed on the local unit and restricted a sharp uptick.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 83.11 against the greenback. It hit an intra-day high of 83.02 and a low of 83.12. It finally settled at 83.03 (provisional) against the dollar, higher by 5 paise from its previous close of 83.08.