Sensex rises; Vedanta hits near three-year high

By Samantha Kareen Nair

The NSE Nifty edged up on Wednesday, hovering near the 10,000-point mark it breached for the first time in the previous session, with stocks such as Vedanta Ltd gaining on solid quarterly results.

Expectations of a better earnings season with improving economic indicators have increased investor confidence, extending a record-setting rally this year, although high valuations are seen capping gains in the near term.

The Nifty has hit a string of record highs this year and is Asia's third best-performing index this year with a 22 percent gain.

"The market is on a secular uptrend. Among other factors, corporate results so far have been fairly decent with upbeat performances," said Nitasha Shankar, senior vice president and head of research at Yes Securities (I) Ltd.

"Overall, things are improving and we expect the market to continue on this journey upward, though there will be some days of profit booking which would only be prudent."

The NSE index was up 0.29 percent at 9,993.6 as of 0609 GMT.

The benchmark Sensex was 0.26 pct higher at 32,311.1 after hitting a fresh high on Tuesday.

Among gainers, shares of Vedanta Ltd rose as much as 3.3 to their highest since Sept. 25 2014, after better margins from zinc operations helped double the company's June-quarter consolidated profit.

Axis Bank fell as much as 2.7 percent and was among the top percentage losers on the NSE index. Analysts say concerns over the banks' unrecognised stress in power and others sectors linger. Axis posted a 16 percent fall in quarterly profit on Tuesday, but said overall bad loans were stable.

(Reporting by Samantha Kareen Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Vyas Mohan)