Gains in automobile and select financial stocks supported the markets
Domestic stock markets started Wednesday's session on a positive note tracking gains in global equities. The S&P BSE Sensex index rose as much as 0.62 per cent - or 216.48 points - to 35,132.28 in the first few minutes of trade, having started the day up 93.79 points at 35,009.59. The broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark climbed to as high as 10,355.85, after opening mildly stronger at 10,323.80 compared to its previous close of 10,302.10. Gains in automobile and select financial stocks supported the markets.
At 9:41 am, the Sensex traded 158.48 points - or 0.45 per cent - higher at 35,074.28, while the Nifty was up 39.20 points (0.38 per cent) at 10,341.30.
Top percentage gainers in the 50-scrip index at the time were UPL, Axis Bank, ITC, HDFC and IndusInd Bank, trading between 1.70 per cent and 2.74 per cent higher. On the other hand, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Infratel and Britannia - down between 1.63 per cent and 3.03 per cent each - were the top Nifty losers.
Market breadth favoured gains, as 998 stocks on the BSE rose against 868 that moved in the opposite direction. On the NSE, 887 stocks advanced while 721 declined.
The Nifty Auto index - comprising shares in manufacturers of automobiles and auto ancillaries - traded up 0.31 per cent at the time, having risen as much as 0.70 per cent earlier, as companies geared up to report their monthly sales figures.
Equities in other Asian markets registered cautious gains as improving economic data was offset by worries that surging coronavirus cases in the US could derail the world's recovery before it properly begins.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.35 per cent higher, while China's Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's KOSPI indices were up 0.85 per cent, 0.52 per cent and 0.83 per cent respectively.
However, Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark was down 0.19 per cent at the time.
The E-Mini S&P 500 futures were down 0.16 per cent, indicating a slightly negative start for US markets on Wednesday.
Overnight in the US, the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite indices rose 1.54 per cent, 0.85 per cent and 1.87 per cent respectively, registering Wall Street's strongest quarter in more than two decades.
On Tuesday, the Sensex had ended 45.72 points - or 0.13 per cent - lower at 34,915.80, and the Nifty at 10,302.10, down 10.30 points from its previous close. Both benchmark indices registered their best performances since the June quarter of 2009, after hitting a four-year low in March.
