Sensex recovers 162 pts; auto stocks cap gains

A day after the massive plunge, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Wednesday recovered by nearly 162 points on emergence of buying mainly in metal and banking counters, but the gains were capped by auto stocks.

Likewise, the NSE gauge Nifty rose 47 points to settle above the key 10,800-mark.

After swinging 367 points in a highly volatile session, the 30-share index ended 161.83 points, or 0.44 per cent, higher at 36,724.74. It hit an intra-day high of 36,776.31 and low of 36,409.54.

The broader Nifty after opening on a flat note in the morning traded in the range of 10,858.75 and 10,746.35 during the session. It finally ended the day with 46.75 points, or 0.43 per cent, gains at 10,844.65.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Bharti Airtel, SBI, Tata Steel, Vedanta, NTPC, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, ONGC, ICICI Bank and L&T, which rose up to 2.97 per cent.

On the other hand, Maruti was the biggest laggard, plunging 3.64 per cent after the company announced a two-day suspension of its manufacturing operations at its Gurugram and Manesar plants in Haryana.

Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Bajaj Auto and RIL too fell up to 2.97 per cent.

On Tuesday, the BSE Sensex dropped 770 points and the NSE Nifty dived over 225 points after investors indulged in panick selloffs amid sustained worries over the country's economic health.

The benchmark indices also saw their biggest intra-day plunge in nearly 11 months.

On Wednesday's recovery in Indian equities, analysts said domestic market recovered tracking positive global cues.

Hang Seng rallied 3.90 per cent on reports that Hong Kong's embattled pro-China leader Carrie Lam would formally withdraw the much-despised extradition bill on Wednesday that sparked the nearly three-month long protest crisis which virtually paralysed the city.

Shanghai Composite Index, Nikkei and Kospi too ended up to 1.16 per cent higher.

Exchanges in Europe were also trading with significant gains in their respective early sessions.

The Indian rupee appreciated 34 paise (intra-day) to trade at 72.05 per US dollar.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.39 per cent to 58.48 per barrel (intra-day).