Nifty settles above 10,700-mark, up 23.90 points

NSE benchmark Nifty closed higher by 23.90 points at 10,741.70 following sustained buying mainly in IT, energy, private bank, bank and metal sectors.

However, gains were capped owing to mixed trades in global equities after US President Donald Trump scrapped the Iran nuclear deal, pushing oil prices to the highest since 2014.

Weakness in rupee and upcoming Karnataka state elections also hovered the investor sentiment, the key index also saw profit booking led by PSU bank, Pharma, media, FMCG and Auto sectors.

Overseas, European shares were trading higher in early trade, supported by strength in oil stocks after US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of Iran's nuclear agreement,boosting crude prices. Asian stocks closed slightly lower on Trump's announcement, which led to a surge in oil.

Back home, the 50-share NSE Nifty closed at 10,741.70, up 23.90 points, or 0.22 per cent, its highest closing level since 2 February 2018, the Nifty hit a high of 10,766.25 and a low of 10,689.85 during the day.

It saw an intra-day movement of about 76.40 points.

On the sectoral front, IT rose by 0.55 percent, Energy 0.29 percent, Private Bank 0.29 percent, bank 0.25 percent, Metal 0.07 percent and Finance service 0.02 percent. While, PSU Bank fell by 0.73 percent, Pharma 0.56 percent, Media 0.51 percent, Auto 0.15 percent and Realty 0.09 percent.

Major index gainers were Tata Motors, Titan, TCS, UPL, Yes Bank, TCS, AsianPaint and InfaTel.

Losers included, UltraCeMco, BPCL, Lupin, Baj Finance, Sunpharma, ICICI bank, SBIN and NTPC.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market remained negative. A total of 753 scrips advanced, 1,019 declined, while 87 remained unchanged.

Turnover in the cash segment fell to Rs 28,965.32 crore, from Rs 34,185.15 crore as on Tuesday.

A total of 12,750.19 lakh shares changed hands in 1,00,47,350 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms on the NSE stood at Rs 1,48,82,290.73 crores.