The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday recouped their losses in the last few hours of trading and ended flat amid volatility ahead of the US Fed outcome. The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 69,585, up 34 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 shut shop at 20,926, up 20 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, NTPC, PowerGrid, M&M, L&T, Sun Pharma, SBI emerged gainers. On the downside, TCS, Infosys, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, UltraCemco, Bajaj Finance were among losers.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index rose 1 per cent to touch a fresh record high. The BSE Smallcap index gained 0.7 per cent.
Among sectors, the Nifty IT index dropped 1.3 per cent, followed by the Nifty Private Bank index declining 0.07 per cent. The Nifty Pharma and Auto indices advanced 1 per cent each.
In the previous session on Tuesday, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 378 points to 69,551, while the NSE Nifty50 shut shop 91 points lower at 20,906.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled lower while Tokyo ended in the positive territory. European markets were trading with gains. The US markets ended in the positive territory on Tuesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.27 per cent to $73.04 a barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 76.86 crore, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 4 paise to hit an all-time closing low of 83.41 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday amid a strong American currency overseas. Forex traders said a steep fall in crude oil prices from $76 per barrel to the below USD 73 level provided support, but a muted trend in equity markets triggered negative bias against the local unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.39 against the greenback and traded in a tight range of 83.38-83.41. It finally settled at its lifetime low of 83.41 (provisional), a fall of 4 paise from the previous close. On Tuesday, the domestic currency settled at 83.37 against the dollar.