RIL, banks lift indices for 3rd day; Sensex gains 1,148 pts, ends above 51K

Stock market updates: Improved economic situation, stability in bond yields globally, and 'buy on dips' strategy worked in the favour of the bulls, pushing benchmark indices over 2 per cent higher on Wednesday.

Barring auto, all the key sectoral indices were trading between 1.5 per cent and 3.3 per cent higher on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) highlighting strength in the market. The Nifty PSU Bank and Metal indices gained over 3 per cent each on the NSE while the Nifty Bank, Financial Services, Private Bank, Realty, and IT indices were up between 1.8 per cent and 2.8 per cent. 

The frontline Nifty50 index made a dash for 15,300-mark in the intra-day trade, and hit a high of 15,273. The index cooled-off marginally and settled at 15,246  levels, up 326 points or 2.19 per cent. 

On the BSE, the S&P BSE Sensex touched a high of 51,540 during the day but retreated to end at 51,445 levels, up 1,148 points or 2.28 per cent.

Blue-chip stocks such as Reliance Industries, HDFC, Infosys, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank gave the index 800-points lift today. These stocks advanced in the range of 3 per cent to 5 per cent. Additionally, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, SBI, IndusInd Bank, and Dr Reddy's Labs, all up between 2 per cent and 5 per cent, were the other top gainers.

Auto stocks such as Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, and M&M declined up to 1.35 per cent on the back of profit-booking and were the only top drags on the Sensex. Hero MotoCorp, BPCL, and Titan, down 1.5 per cent, 0.5 per cent, and 0.05 per cent, were the additional losers on the Nifty index.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices closed 1.4 per cent and 1.2 per cent higher, respectively.

Global markets

Asian shares edged higher on Wednesday as investors shrugged off concerns that stocks may have rallied too far too fast in the past year. 

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.12 per cent. Australian shares were up 0.82 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index rose 0.45 per cent. Shares in China gained 1.27 per cent. E-mini S&P futures were up 0.36 per cent.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.7 per cent, while the German DAX gained 0.9 per cent, France’s CAC 40 was up 0.8 per cent and UK’s FTSE 100 added 1 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)