Continuing their bull run, equity benchmarks ended at fresh closing high on Wednesday, led by buying in financial, auto and metal counters. Optimism surrounding the signing of the first phase of a US-China trade deal also boosted investor sentiment.
The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 199 points or 0.49 per cent to end at 41,021, - its fresh closing peak. It was the first time that the index settled above the crucial 41,000-mark. Sensex hit an all-time high of 41,120.28 in the intra-day trade on Tuesday.
HDFC, Reliance Industries (RIL), SBI, HUL, and Maruti contributed the most to the index's gains today. Out of 30 constituents, 24 ended in the green.
On the NSE, the frontline index Nifty closed at a record high of 12,100.70 with 37 constituents advancing and 13 declining. Nifty Bank, too, ended at a fresh closing high of 31,875.95 levels.
In the broader market, midcaps outperformed the benchmarks while small-caps were subdued. The Nifty Midcap 100 index added 0.76 per cent to end at 17,043 levels while The Nifty SmallCap ended flat at 5,723, up just 0.04 per cent.
Sectorally, barring realty and media stocks, all the indices ended in the green. PSU bank stocks gained the most with the Nifty PSU Bank index rising nearly 2 per cent to 2,625 levels. Nifty Auto index added 1.27 per cent to close at 8,203 levels.
BUZZING STOCKS
Shares of YES Bank climbed up to 9 per cent to Rs 68.85 during the session after the private sector lender announced that its board will meet on Friday to consider raising of funds. It ended at Rs 68.25 apiece, up 7.65 per cent. YES Bank also ended as the top gainer on the Sensex.
Shares of automobiles along with auto ancillaries companies gained on reports that the Cabinet may consider approving scrappage policy in today's meet. Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Forge and Ashok Leyland from the Nifty Auto index climbed 3 per cent each on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Maruti Suzuki India, Eicher Motors, Hero MotoCorp, TVS Motor Company and Bajaj Auto were all up in the range of 1-2 per cent each.
SBI regained 3 trillion market capitalisation. The stock ended at Rs 343.6, up nearly 2.50 per cent.
GLOBAL MARKETS
European shares touched a four-year high in early trading on Wednesday, as comments from US President Donald Trump sparked hopes of an imminent resolution to the drawn-out trade war with China. Trump said on Tuesday that Washington was in the “final throes” of work on an initial trade agreement, adding to optimism from earlier in the day when Beijing said top negotiators from both countries had reached a consensus on “resolving relevant problems”.
In Asian, however, China shares fell as weak industrial profit data highlighted growing strains on the economy. At the close, the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.1 per cent to 2,903.19 and the blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.4 per cent, while most other Asian markets gained on hopes of a deal.
In commodities, oil prices slipped after an industry report showed a surprise build-up in US crude inventories, but optimism surrounding the signing of the first phase of a US-China trade deal prevented a bigger slide in prices.
(With inputs from Reuters)
 "MARKET WRAP: Bull run continues; Sensex gains 199 pts to end above 41,000")
