Sensex soars 261 points on value-buying, global rebound; Reliance Industries tops gainers list

Mumbai: Benchmarks snapped their two-session falling streak to finish with smart gains on Wednesday, spurred by bargain hunting in recently-battered metal and bank stocks amid a rebound in global equities. The BSE Sensex vaulted almost 261 points to close at 35,547.33, while the broader NSE Nifty climbed 61.60 points to 10,772.05 Index heavyweight Reliance Industries topped the gainers list in the Sensex pack, spurting 2.44 percent to a record closing high of Rs 1,019.95. Asian and European stocks bounced back, reversing some of their recent losses following escalating trade tensions between the US and China. The 30-share Sensex stayed in the green throughout and hit the day’s high of 35,571.37 on a flurry of buying. It finally ended at 35,547.33, up 260.59 points, or 0.74 percent. The gauge had lost 335.40 points in the previous two sessions, tracking a sell-off across global markets after the US and China reignited their trade dispute. [caption id=“attachment_2415832” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The broader NSE Nifty climbed 61.60 points, or 0.58 percent, to close at 10,772.05. Intra-day, it shuttled between 10,781.80 and 10,724.05. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 653.68 crore while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold equities to the tune of Rs 1,324.92 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data. “Despite trade tensions, the market traded in a positive note by snapping two days of downtrend on the back of positive global peers. “Rupee gained as oil price remained low ahead of OPEC meeting on Friday. Bank Nifty outperformed due to a slide in 10-year yield after RBI’s announcement of open market purchase. The continuing uncertainty on trade tariff is likely to cap gains,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. Other prominent index gainers included IndusInd Bank 2.27 percent, Vedanta 2.10 percent, Yes Bank 1.66 per cent, Kotak Bank 1.58 percent, Tata Steel 1.52 percent, HDFC Bank 1.50 percent and HDFC Ltd 1.25 percent. However, ONGC fell 1.24 percent, Coal India 0.92 percent, ITC Ltd 0.90 per cent, Wipro 0.59 percent, L&T 0.54 per cent and Infosys 0.06 percent. Sectorally, the BSE metal index emerged as the best performer by rising 1.09 per cent, followed by bankex 1.04 per cent, realty 0.83 per cent, power 0.63 per cent, consumer durables 0.53 percent, auto 0.45 percent and healthcare 0.32 percent. FMCG, capital goods, oil and gas, PSU and IT indices ended in the red, falling up to 0.36 percent. The broader markets too were in better shape as investors accumulated stocks available at attractive levels. The BSE small-cap index rose 0.27 per cent, while the mid-cap index gained 0.23 percent. Major Asian indices closed higher as investors assessed US-China trade dynamics. Japan’s Nikkei advanced 1.24 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.77 percent, while Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.27 percent. In the Eurozone, key indices such as Paris CAC 40 and Frankfurt’s DAX were up by 0.37 percent and 0.52 percent in their early deals. London’s FTSE too jumped 1.27 percent.