Sensex rises for 2nd day, surges 1,223 pts; Nifty tops 16,300; RIL zooms 5%

Frontline indices climbed for a second straight day on Wednesday, rising over 2 per cent, even as Ukraine-Russia conflict showed no signs of ebbing, and the US and European Union announcing fresh sanctions on Russia and Belarus.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's reported statement that his country has cooled down on the question of a NATO membership calmed investor nerves. READ HERE

Against this backdrop, the BSE Sensex index leaped 1,223 points, or 2.3 per cent, to settle at 54,647 today. On the NSE, the Nifty50 closed at 16,345 levels, up 332 points or 2 per cent. The benchmarks had hit intra-day highs of 54,894 and 16,418, respectively.

Both these indices were lifted by Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, and Bajaj Finance as these shares zoomed between 5 per cent and 6 per cent. That apart, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Ultratech Cement, and Tech M were other winners on the bourses, up in the range of 3-4 per cent.

On the downside, Shree Cement, ONGC, Power Grid, NTPC, Coal India, and Tata Steel fell over 1 per cent each as profit booking in commodity-linked stocks extended into second day.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added over 2 per cent each. Overall, over 2,600 stocks ended in the green on the BSE as against less than 700 declining stocks.

ALSO READ: Goldman Sachs sees gold prices hitting $2,500/oz by year-end

Sectorally, the Nifty Metal index was the sole loser was a second straight day, down 0.4 per cent. The gainers, meanwhile, were the Nifty Realty and Auto indices, up 3 per cent each; the Nifty Bank, Financial Services, Private Bank and PSB indices, up 2 per cent each; and the Nifty IT and Pharma indices, up 1 per cent.

Global markets
European markets were sharply higher on Wednesday as investors continued to monitor surging commodity prices and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 jumped 3.2 per cent by mid-morning, with travel and leisure stocks adding 5.4 per cent to lead gains as almost all sectors and major bourses entered positive territory. Oil and gas stocks fell 1.5 per cent.

On Wall Street, Nasdaq Futures were up over 2 per cent, while Dow Jones and S&P500 Futures added 1.5 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively.

Asian indices, however, nursed losses today. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.3 per cent, South Korea's Kospi and China's Shanghai Composite shed over 1 per cent each, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.7 per cent.