Sensex snaps 3-day losing run, Nifty closes above 17,500 as RIL, L&T gain

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex bounced back 351 points while Nifty closed above the 19,750 level on Wednesday following buying in capital goods, banking and oil shares amid fresh foreign fund inflows.

Snapping its three-session losing run, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 351.49 points or 0.53 per cent to settle at 66,707.20. During the day, it jumped 541.56 points or 0.81 per cent to 66,897.27.

The broader NSE Nifty advanced 97.70 points or 0.50 per cent to end at 19,778.30. As many as 31 Nifty shares closed in the green, 18 declined and one closed flat.

From the Sensex pack, Larsen & Toubro jumped over 3 per cent. ITC, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Infosys and State Bank of India were the other major gainers.

Infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) on Tuesday posted a 36 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 3,116.12 crore for the June quarter, mainly aided by the execution of a healthy order book in its projects and manufacturing portfolio. It also announced a share buyback worth up to Rs 10,000 crore.

Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints and Titan were among the major laggards.

Optimism inched back after three trading days of consolidation ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

"As the market’s ambiguity against the monetary policy is likely to reverse henceforth, going forward we are unlikely to see another Fed rate hike in 2023. This is because inflation has rapidly come down and is forecast to settle down further," he said.

Buying in select heavyweights from auto, energy, FMCG and capital goods space contributed maximum and helped in maintaining a positive tone despite mixed global cues, Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.34 per cent and smallcap index advanced 0.22 per cent.

Among the indices, telecommunication jumped 2.31 per cent, capital goods rallied 1.59 per cent, realty climbed 1.17 per cent, FMCG (1.03 per cent) and industrials (0.98 per cent).

Auto and services indices fell.

A total of 1,906 stocks advanced while 1,630 declined and 160 remained unchanged.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower. Equity markets in Europe were trading in the red. The US markets ended in positive territory on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.72 per cent lower at USD 83 a barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,088.76 crore, according to exchange data.