Sensex ends Samvat 2074 7% higher; investors adopt cautious approach ahead of long Diwali break

Mumbai: Benchmark indices ended a highly volatile session in the green Tuesday on firm Asian cues, ending the Samvat year 2074 higher by over 7 percent. The benchmark Sensex has gained 2,407.56 points, or 7 percent, in the Hindu Samvat year 2074, while the broader NSE Nifty rose by 319.15 points, or over 3 percent. In Tuesday’s session, the Sensex commenced higher at 35,076.24 points and continued its upward march to hit a high of 35,196.03. However, profit-booking in the last one hour of trading, in line with losses in European markets, wiped-off most Sensex gains as it hit a low of 34,889.72 and settled at 34,991.91 points, up 40.99 points or 0.12 percent. The gauge had lost over 60 points Monday. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty, after shuttling between 10,600.25 and 10,491.45 points, ended the last session of Samvat 2074 with a rise of 6 points, or 0.06 percent, to end at 10,530. [caption id=“attachment_4748931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] Sentiments were also influenced by positive cues from other Asian markets, supported by Wall Street gains. However, momentum was tempered ahead of the US mid-term elections, the first major electoral test of President Donald Trump’s big tax cuts and hostile trade policies. Investors adopted a cautious approach in the last session of Samvat year 2074 ahead of a long Diwali break, and kept their positions restricted. TCS emerged as the best performer among Sensex constituents, rising 2.22 percent, followed by Yes Bank gaining 1.95 percent. Other gainers included Tata Motors, RIL, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, Vedanta, ICICI Bank, Coal India, ONGC, L&T, Infosys, HDFC, NTPC and M&M, rising up to 1.69 percent. Bucking the trend, state-run SBI suffered the most by falling 2.98 percent, while Axis Bank lost 2.67 percent. Maruti Suzuki, IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, ITC, HUL, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp and HDFC Bank too ended lower and lost up to 1.31 percent. Sectorally, the BSE teck index took the top position by rising 1.03 percent, followed by IT gaining 0.99 percent, realty (0.40 per cent) and infrastructure (0.17 percent). However, consumer durables, metal, FMCG, PSU, oil & gas, auto, bankex, healthcare and power ended in the negative zone, falling up to 1.79 percent. Broader markets depicted a weak trend with the midcap index falling 0.75 percent, while smallcap index shed 0.19 per cent. Exchanges will conduct a special ‘Muhurat trading’ session Wednesday between 1700 and 1830 hours on the occasion of Diwali. The markets will remain closed on Thursday for “Diwali Belipratipada’. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was up 1.14 percent, South Korea’s KOSPI Index rose 0.61 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.82 percent. Shanghai Composite index, however, fell 0.23 percent. Key indices in Europe such as Paris CAC fell 0.22 percent, while Frankfurt’s DAX shed 0.13 percent in the late morning deals. London’s FTSE also slipped 0.21 percent.