Markets rise for 3rd session amid buying in index majors

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extended their rally for the third straight session on Wednesday amid buying in index majors IndusInd Bank, Nestle India and HCL Tech.

However, continuous foreign fund outflows and a weak trend in global equities restricted gains in the market, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 169.87 points or 0.28 per cent to settle at 60,300.58. During the day, it jumped 232.08 points or 0.38 per cent to 60,362.79.

The broader NSE Nifty advanced 44.35 points or 0.25 per cent to end at 17,813.60.

PowerGrid was the biggest gainer among the Sensex components, spurting 2.59 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Nestle, HCL Tech, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC were the major winners.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Reliance Industries and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the biggest laggards, dropping up to 0.84 per cent.

“Investors are likely to have covered their positions ahead of the monthly F&O expiry on Thursday. Markets shrugging off global weakness is an indication that our fundamentals remain intact and investors are willing to stay risk-on in Indian equities.

“But ahead of the US Federal Reserve policy next month, markets may take cues from global direction to exercise caution,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.97 per cent and the smallcap index gained 1.29 per cent.

Realty and FMCG sectors were top gainers today. Nifty FMCG index surged to all-time high levels post the healthy results from Tata Consumer and Nestle, which reflected an improvement in demand and an easing of inflationary cost pressures, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Among sectoral indices, realty jumped 1.30 per cent, capital goods climbed 1 per cent, telecommunication (0.88 per cent), industrials (0.71 per cent) and FMCG (0.61 per cent).

Metal, healthcare and energy ended in the red.

The rupee appreciated 21 paise to close at 81.74 against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking the weakness of the American currency in the overseas market.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.17 per cent to $80.91 per barrel.