Sensex closes 276 points higher; Infosys gains amid reports Nandan Nilekani may return as CEO

The Sensex closed higher on Wednesday led by bank stocks amid mixed Asian markets. The benchmark index ended 276 points or 0.88 percent higher at 31,560 level.

The Nifty too rose 0.89 percent or 86.95 points to the 9852 level.

Market heavyweight Infosys recovered some ground amid reports that Nandan Nilekani is likely to return as the CEO and MD of the firm. Infosys co-founder Nilekani served as CEO of the firm from March 2002 to April 2007.   

The stock closed nearly 2 percent or 17 points higher at 894 level.  

Since August 18, the day Vishal Sikka resigned as CEO and MD, the Infosys stock has lost 14 percent or 126 points.

Infosys was the top stock in terms of turnover on the BSE.  Infy shares worth Rs 18,901 lakh were traded with the stock seeing 47,758 trades today.

Fortis Healthcare came second on the BSE in terms of turnover amid reports that Rekha Jhunjhunwala, ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's wife, has bought 45 lakh shares of the firm for an estimated Rs 60 crore through an open market transaction.

It saw Rs 9,147 lakh worth shares traded on the BSE. Number of trades in the stock rose to 22532.

The stock closed 7.70 percent or 11 points higher at 152 level.

Balkrishna Industries closed 7.61 percent or 112.55 points higher at 1591 level on the BSE after block deal of 6.6 lakh shares trade in three blocks on the BSE and NSE at Rs 1,490 per share.

Top gainers on the 30 stock Sensex were Adani Ports (2.79 percent), Bharti Airtel (2.41 percent) and Tata Steel 2.28 percent.  

Hindustan Unilever (1.05 percent)  fell the most on Sensex to 1188 level.

Banking stocks led the rally with the BSE Bankex rising 1.39 percent or 376.02 points higher at 27455.08 level.

The Bank Nifty index, which comprises the most liquid banking stocks listed on the NSE, closed 1.43 percent or 342 points higher at 24,316 level.

Market breadth was positive with 1,617 stocks closing higher against 962 ending lower on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Sensex rose 33 points to close at 31,291.85 after losing 537 points in previous two consecutive sessions. The 50-share NSE Nifty closed higher but failed to hold 9,800 level, up 11.20 points at 9,765.55.

Global Markets

European markets opened flat with Britain's FTSE 100 up 0.1 percent to 7,389.50. France's CAC 40 was down less than 0.1 percent to 5,128.49 and Germany's DAX fell 0.1 percent to 12,218.48. Futures augured a tepid start on Wall Street. S&P futures fell 0.2 percent while Dow futures slipped 0.1 percent.

Asian stock markets eked out small gains. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.3 percent to 19,434.64 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.1 percent to 2,366.40. But the Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.1 percent to 3,287.70. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2 percent to 5,737.20. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was closed due to a typhoon.