Sensex managed to end higher today after four straight sessions of losses led by gains in select banking and auto counters amid mixed global cues. Sensex rose 160 points to settle at 62,570.68. Of 30 Sensex stocks, 13 advanced while 17 declined. Nifty too advanced 48.85 points to end at 18,609.35, with 27 of its constituents closing in the red.
Sensex gainers
Axis Bank (2.71%), IndusInd Bank (2.31%), ICICI Bank (1.02%) , L&T (2.06%) and Infosys (0.93%) were the top Sensex gainers today.
Sensex losers
Sun Pharma was the top Sensex loser, falling 3.57 per cent after the USFDA listed its Halol facility under an import alert, banning export from the plant to the American market. PowerGrid (1.56%), TCS (0.90%), Kotak Bank (0.72%), Wipro (0.68%), and Bajaj Finance (0.67%) were among the top Sensex losers.
“After touching a record high, the domestic market experienced significant volatility as global markets tumbled due to fear of an economic slowdown and worries over a Fed rate hike. Recession fears weighed on IT and pharma stocks while banks, especially PSBs, continued to support the bourses. This volatility is expected to sustain in the global market as we await the Fed policy decision and US inflation numbers due next week,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Share Market News Highlights: Sensex, Nifty settle higher; Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Eicher Motors top gainers
Meanwhile, the rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled 3 paise higher at 82.44 against the US dollar. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.34 and touched an intra-day high of 82.26 and a low of 82.47 against the greenback. Market breadth was positive with 1,853 shares closing higher against 1,634 stocks falling on BSE. 132 shares were unchanged.
Pharma shares were the top sectoral losers with their BSE index falling 208 points to 23,343. Banking, capital goods and metal shares were the top sectoral gainers with their BSE indices rising 517 points, 498 points and 139 points, respectively.
Market cap of BSE-listed firms settled at Rs 289.70 lakh crore. BSE mid cap and small cap indices rose 111 points and 96 points, respectively.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,241.87 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Previous session
Sensex fell for the fourth session on Wednesday. The 30-share BSE benchmark ended 215.68 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 62,410.68. Similarly, the broader Nifty fell 82.25 points or 0.44 per cent to 18,560.50. NTPC was the top Sensex loser, shedding 2 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech and Wipro.
Global markets
Shares were mixed in Europe and Asia ahead of the release of US jobless data on Thursday and inflation numbers on Friday. US futures turned higher and oil prices rebounded. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.1 per cent, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.4 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose by 3.4 per cent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.8 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.5 per cent. Brent crude oil gained 28 cents to $77.45 per barrel.