Sensex rises 350 pts, tops 63K; Nifty above 18,700; Suzlon shares soar 17%, Britannia up 4%

Domestic equity indices ended their gains for the fourth straight session as benchmark indices settled higher on Wednesday. All round buying across all the key sectors pushed the markets highs, defying the muted global cues. However, traders will be looking at RBI's monetary policy announcement, due tomorrow, which will guide sentiments in the near term.

For the day, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex gained 350.08 points, or 0.56 per cent, to end the session at 63,142.96, while NSE's Nifty50 jumped 127.40 points, or 0.68 per cent, to settle at 18,726.40. Broader markets outperformed the headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices added over a per cent each. Fear gauge India VIX spiked a per cent to 11.44-level.

Nifty had a small gap up opening which was then followed by a range bound move for a couple of hours. This was predominantly due to banknifty which was trading almost flat in the opening hours. However, the second hour of the trading session brought fresh cheers to bulls with Nifty making fresh highs every hour, said Gaurav Bissa, Vice President at InCred Equities.

"Nifty witnessed fresh hourly breakout above 18,650 levels which has now paved the way towards 18,800-18,850 levels. The immediate support is at 18630 levels for Nifty. The trend remains positive," he said.

All the sectoral indices settled higher for the day. The Nifty Realty and Metal indices added 2 per cent each, while the Nifty FMCG and Oil & Gas indices added more than a per cent each. The Nifty Auto, IT, PSU Bank, Healthcare and Consumer Durable indices posted significant gains.

In the Nifty50 pack, Britannia Industries and Tata Consumer Products rose more than 4 per cent, leading the gainers, while Bharat Petroleum, Nestle India, HDFC Life Insurance Company and JSW Steel added 3 per cent each. Tata Motors, Tata Steel, SBI Life Insurance Company and Power Grid added 2 per cent each.

Only seven Nifty50 stocks settled in red. Among the losers for the day, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Cipla and Maruti Suzuki dropped about a per cent each. Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports, ICICI Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were the only key laggards.

Investors are becoming more optimistic due to the anticipation of a positive revision in the RBI’s inflation forecast during the ongoing MPC meeting, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"It is expected that the RBI will maintain its pause on rate hikes, considering the significant improvement in inflation, which has now come within the RBI's comfort zone. Furthermore, the participation of FIIs as net buyers, after a brief halt, contributed to today's market rally, particularly driven by mid- and small-cap stocks," he said.

A total of 3,698 shares were traded on BSE on Wednesday, of which 2,299 settled with gains. 1,267 stocks ended the session higher while 132 shares remained unchanged. A total of 232 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas 127 shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

In the broader markets, RattanIndia Power surged 20 per cent amid the heavy trading volumes, while EKI Energy Services jumped more than 18 per cent for the day. Suzlon Energy gained another 17 per cent, while Torrent Pharma rose 16 per cent for the day. Jaiprakash Associates advanced over 13 per cent.

On the other hand, Kellton Tech Solutions, Rama Steel Tubes and Talbros Automotive declined 4 per cent each, while Cochin Shipyard and Wockhardt Pharma dropped more than 3 per cent each. Bharat Dynamics and NCC were down 3 per cent each.

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