Sensex & Nifty close higher; IT, banking and auto stocks rise

Hi all, I am Neha Vashishth and I am back again with another episode of ET Market Watch - your daily podcast for daily stock market updates. Let's start with

Sensex and Nifty
Despite weak global cues, both BSE and NSE closed higher for the third straight session today.

The indices were mainly led by banking, financial, auto, and IT stocks. Sensex rose 170 points and settled at 60,300, while Nifty surged 44 points and ended at 17,813.

Today's gainers and losers
In the Sensex pack, Power Grid Corp and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers, rising over 1.5%. L&T, Nestle, HCL Tech, HUL, and Tata Motors also closed higher. On the flip side, Bajaj FInserv, NTPC, Kotak Bank, and Bajaj Finance ended with cuts.

Focusing on stocks in the news today
Shares of Gujarat State PSUs closed up to 20% higher after the Gujarat Government announced a new policy for minimum levels of dividend distribution and bonus shares.

Mahindra CIE Automotive closed 7% higher, while AU Small Finance Bank ended 2.6% lower after Q4 results.

Sectorally, Nifty FMCG advanced 0.71% and Nifty Auto surged 0.53%. Nifty Bank and Nifty IT also closed higher. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap100 rose 0.15% and Smallcap100 gained 0.46%.

Global Markets
Asian stocks were mixed due to concerns over the banking sector and recession fears in the US. Markets of Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Bangkok were up, while Shanghai and Taipei were more or less flat. Tokyo, Seoul, Manila, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were all down.

Rupee
The Indian rupee rose 21 paise and finished at $81.74 against the US dollar. Oil prices rose due to robust demand after reports of falling U.S. crude oil and fuel inventories came out.

Brent crude climbed by 14 cents to $80.73 a barrel. US WTI crude gained 34 cents, to $77.42 a barrel.

That's it for today, stay tuned to ET Markets for more.