Mumbai:
Markets ticked higher for the fifth straight session on Wednesday following gains in RIL, banking and IT stocks amid a mixed trend overseas after US President Donald Trump dashed hopes of a pre-election stimulus package.
After opening on a weak note, the 30-share BSE Sensex gained ground to end 304.38 points or 0.77 per cent higher at 39,878.95.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 76.45 points or 0.66 per cent to close at 11,738.85.
The Sensex has now gained 1,905.73 points in five sessions, while the Nifty has advanced 516.45 points.
Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack on Wednesday, climbing 4.44 per cent, after the Tata group firm said its business has been returning to normalcy in the second quarter of this fiscal, led by the jewellery division.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries spurted 2.13 per cent a day after its retail arm raised Rs 5,512.50 crore from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) for a 1.20 per cent stake.
Bajaj Auto, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, and ONGC were among the other prominent gainers.
IT major TCS inched up 0.78 per cent ahead of its quarterly results.
On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, NTPC and Bajaj Finserv were among the laggards, skidding up to 4.12 per cent.
On the global front, Wall Street tumbled after US President Donald Trump said he was calling off negotiations with Democratic lawmakers for a fresh stimulus package until after the elections next month.
However, Asian and European markets showed a mixed trend.
“Markets remained upbeat amid signs of stabilisation in India’s services sector and optimism over earnings. Business updates have been strong for companies like HDFC, HDFC Bank, Titan.
“Global sentiments remained cautious after US President Donald Trump abandoned COVID-19 relief talks with congressional Democrats. Banks, IT, auto and FMCG stocks remained in traction while metals, pharma and realty stocks were subjected to profit booking,” said Paras Bothra, President of Equity Research, Ashika Stock Broking.
BSE consumer durables, energy, auto, IT, teck and financial indices rose up to 1.74 per cent, while metal, realty, power, utilities, capital goods and industrials lost as much as 2.97 per cent.
Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices fell up to 0.16 per cent.
International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.59 per cent lower at USD 41.97 per barrel.
In the forex market, the rupee strengthened by 13 paise to finish at 73.33 against the US dollar.
