Nifty ends tad below 8800, Sensex up 109 pts; ITC gains

The market on Wednesday ended with gains with the Sensex trading up 109.16 points or 0.4 percent at 28452.17, and the Nifty trading close to 41.85 points or 0.5 percent at 8786.20.

Shares such as Tata Motors, HDFC Bank and ITC were among the gainers while Tata Steel, Lupin, NTPC and ONGC were in the losers category.

Steel Minister Chaudhry Birendra Singh met Arcelor Mittal Chairman Lakshmi Mittal and discussed the proposed Rs. 6,700-crore joint venture with SAIL to set up an automotive steel plant in India.

Singh held consultations on the JV with top brass of the world's largest steel maker here today along with senior official from the Steel Ministry and SAIL Chairman P K Singh, ArcelorMittal said in a statement.

"Arcelor Mittal welcomed Singh, SAIL Chairman and Steel Ministry's Joint Secretary Sunil Barthwal to its London offices for discussions regarding the proposed USD one billion automotive steel JV between Arcelor Mittal and SAIL," it added.

UltraTech Cement surged four percent after foreign investors are allowed to buy up to 30 percent stake in the company.

Kotak Mahindra Bank hit fresh record high, up 3.4 percent after Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is allowed to buy more than five percent but less than 10 percent stake in the bank.

Crude oil futures dipped as the US dollar held around three-week highs and industry stocks data indicated a build in US crude inventories. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at USD 48.02 per barrel, down 0.72 percent from their previous close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.45 percent at USD 46.14 a barrel.