Sensex rallies 490 pts; Nifty reclaims 11,700-mark

Snapping its three-session losing streak, benchmark BSE Sensex rallied 490 points Wednesday as investors piled into index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC duo, Infosys, ITC and ICICI Bank.

After starting on a positive note, the BSE bourse soared to a high of 39,095.35 at the fag-end of the session. It finally settled 489.80 points, or 1.27 per cent, higher at 39,054.68.

The broader NSE Nifty too climbed 150.20 points, or 1.30 per cent, to close at 11,726.15. It hit an intra-day high of 11,740.85.

HCL Tech and ONGC were the top gainers in the Sensex, rising up to 3.40 per cent. IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, HDFC Bank, RIL, Bajaj Finance, SBI, TCS, Infosys, ICICI Bank and ITC too rose up to 2.75 per cent.

On the other hand, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, PowerGrid, Maruti, Axis Bank and NTPC fell up to 3.33 per cent.

According to traders, market sentiment turned positive as investors took positive cues from US equities and easing crude oil prices.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.08 per cent to USD 74.45 per barrel.

On the Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices ended at record highs on Tuesday amid a slew of better-than-expected earnings reports.

Elsewhere in Asia, benchmark equity indices in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul ended in the red.

European equites started off on a mixed note.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equity worth Rs 237.47 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares to the tune of Rs 198.35 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

The rupee, however, depreciated 21 paise to 69.83 against the US dollar in early trade.