Sensex, Nifty end marginally higher amid weak global cues

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed slightly higher on Wednesday as gains in major stocks like ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, and Eternal were partly negated by a sharp correction in IT shares due to weak global cues.

Investors turned cautious as profit booking emerged on select counters after the recent relief rally amid renewed optimism about the India-US trade deal, traders said.

After swinging between gains and losses throughout the session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 78.56 points or 0.09 per cent higher at 83,817.69. During the day, it touched a high of 83,947.53 and a low of 83,119.95, gyrating about 827.58 points.

A total of 2,726 stocks advanced, while 1,477 declined and 163 remained unchanged.

The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 48.45 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 25,776.

From the Sensex firms, Eternal, Trent, NTPC, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Maruti, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank were the biggest gainers.

Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra were the biggest laggards, declining as much as 7 per cent. IT shares witnessed a sharp correction due to weakness in global technology stocks, as investors became cautious over concerns of overvaluation, which dented market sentiment.

Among sectoral indices, IT tumbled 5.49 per cent, and the BSE Focused IT tanked 5.06 per cent. On the other hand, Utilities climbed 2.72 per cent, oil & gas (2.37 per cent), consumer durables (2.36 per cent), power (2.18 per cent), energy (1.91 per cent), consumer discretionary (1.56 per cent) and metal (1.27 per cent).

FIIs turned buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 5,236.28 crore. DIIs bought stocks worth Rs 1,014.24 crore.