Metal and realty stocks led from the front in trade on Wednesday - a day that was marked with volatility. India VIX - a guage of volatility on the NSE - ended nearly a per cent higher at 22.92 levels.
After a firm start that saw the Nifty50 reclaim the 12,000 mark, the benchmark indices succumbed to profit booking with the S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 hitting an intra-day low of 40,150.48 levels and 11,775.75 levels, respectively. Both these indices had hit an intra-day high of 40,976.02 and 12,018.65, respectively on Wednesday.
At close, the benchmark indices settled higher for the fourth consecutive session. The S&P BSE Sensex was at 40,707 levels, up 163 points or 0.4 per cent with PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Steel ending the day as top gainers on the 30-share index. IT counters such as TCS and HCL, on the other hand, ended as top drags.
NSE's Nifty50, on the other hand, ended at 11,938 levels, up 41 points or 0.38 per cent.
"Indices managed to close in the Green today but not without its share of hiccups over rumours on waiver of interest on loans. Banks & Metals provided support even as we saw profit booking in several stocks during afternoon trade. Select PSU names were sought after by funds in todays volatile session," said S Ranganathan, head of research at LKP Securities.
Meanwhile, Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi today said that it sees no merit in increasing the 10 per cent investment cap on a single stock for actively-managed mutual fund (MF) schemes.
“The 10 per cent cap is meant for diversification cap. Just because some scrip is outperforming doesn’t mean you raise the ceiling. For the sake of diversification, the 10 per cent ceiling is something which stays,” said Ajay Tyagi, chairman, Sebi while addressing the media at a market summit organized by industry body CII.
READ ABOUT IT HERE
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index closed at 14,808.5 level, up 33 points or 0.23. The S&P BSE SmallCap index, on the other hand, closed at 14,900 level, up 5 points.
Stimulus package
The government, according to a Reuters news report, is reportedly working on the next stimulus package to support the economy amid positive signs of a fall in Covid-19 cases, a senior finance ministry official said on Wednesday.
The government has received suggestions from various ministries and sectors on needed measures, Tarun Bajaj, economic affairs secretary at the ministry of finance, told a virtual conference.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "Union Cabinet has approved productivity linked bonus and non-productivity linked Bonus for 2019-2020. Over 30 lakh non-gazetted employees will benefit by this and total financial implication will be Rs 3,737 crores."
Global markets
Global stocks and bond yields rose on Wednesday as Washington moved closer to agreeing a coronavirus stimulus package, pinning the dollar at its lowest for a month.
The MSCI world equity index, which follows shares in nearly 50 countries, gained 0.1 per cent, buoyed by a 0.5 per cent gain for Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan.
(With inputs from Reuters)
 "MARKETS: Metal, realty stocks shine in choppy trade; Sensex ends 163 pts up")
