Market Wrap, Oct 16: Sensex gains 93 pts, Nifty ends at 11,472

Domestic equities ended Wednesday's lacklustre trading session in the positive territory. Buying in counters such as financials, energy and IT in the last twenty minutes of the trade lifted benchmark indices.  

The S&P BSE Sensex added 93 points or 0.24 per cent to settle at 38,598.99, with Bajaj Finance (up over 3.50 per cent) being the top gainer and Hero MotoCorp (down nearly 3 per cent) the biggest loser. 

HDFC, Bajaj Finance,Reliance Industries (RIL) and ICICI Bank contributed the most to the index's gains while ITC, Asian Paints, and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) emerged as the top drags.  

In the broader market, the S&P BSE SmallCap index settled at 12,799.92 levels, up 26 points or 0.21 per cent. The S&P BSE MidCap index, on the other hand, lost 20 points or 0.14 per cent to end at 13,920.41 levels.

On the NSE, the broader Nifty50 index ended at 11,471.55 levels, up 43 points or 0.38 per cent.

Sectorally, IT stocks gained the most, followed by media and realty stocks. The Nifty IT index ended at 15,361.30 levels, up over 1 per cent. On the flip side, PSU bank stocks slipped the most. The Nifty PSU Bank index ended at 2,150.10 levels, down nearly a per cent. 

Volatility index India VIX slipped 3.44 per cent to 16.27 levels. 

Among individual stocks, Bajaj Consumer Care surged 20 per cent to Rs 235, erasing its entire previous day’s fall of 15 per cent, on the BSE on Wednesday after Mutual Funds-led institutional investors bought more than 20 per cent stake from the promoters of the personal products company. 

Polycab India hit its highest level since listing in the intra-day deals today. The stock hit a high of Rs 737.45 apiece during the session. At close, the scrip stood at Rs 718.05 apiece on the BSE, up nearly 2 per cent.  

Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) climbed as much as 5.54 per cent to Rs 517.45 apiece on the BSE in the intra-day deals on Wednesday. The stock spurted after news reports suggested energy giant Saudi Aramco is likely to express its interest in the strategic sale of BPCL. The stock ended at Rs 511.95 apiece on the BSE, up nearly 4.50 per cent.