Bulls continued to be in the driver's seat on Wednesday amid buying in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries (RIL), IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, L&T, and HDFC Bank.
The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 182 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at 40,652 with Sun Pharma (up around 6 per cent) being the top gainer. During the day, the index hit a fresh lifetime high of 40,816.38 levels; however, the index cooled off later. On the NSE, the broader Nifty50 index ended at 11,999, up 59 points or 0.49 per cent.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained over 37 points or 0.25 per cent to end at 14,868 and the S&P BSE SmallCap closed at 13,414.43 levels, up 10 points or 0.07 per cent.
Sectorally, pharma stocks gained the most on the NSE, followed by media counters. The Nifty Pharma index surged over 3 per cent to 8,108 levels. The Nifty Media index, too, rallied over 3 per cent to 1,863 levels.
BUZZING STOCKS
Continuing its upswing, Reliance Industries (RIL) on Wednesday hit a fresh lifetime high of Rs 1,571 apiece on the BSE, up 4 per cent, thus nearing Rs 10 trillion market capitalisation (m-cap). On Tuesday, RIL became the first Indian company to cross the m-cap of Rs 9.50 trillion. The stock ended at Rs 1,547, up nearly 2.50 per cent.
Shares of public sector banks (PSBs) traded higher for the fourth straight day, after the Supreme Court's decision on Essar Steel resolution came in favor of the financial creditors.
Shares of select public sector undertaking (PSUs) rallied up to 20 per cent on the BSE after the Government gave ‘in-principle’ approval for strategic disinvestment of 28 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) with sale of majority stake of Government of India and transfer of management control. The list included names such as Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Dredging Corporation of India.
READ MORE GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian shares slipped on Wednesday as investors rushed to safe-haven assets after Sino-US trade talks produced nothing encouraging, while concerns about a supply glut left oil prices nursing their biggest one-day loss in seven weeks.
The mood in share markets was sombre with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan off 0.7 per cent. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.8 per cent and Shanghai blue chips 0.5 per cent.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 shed 0.2 per cent and EUROSTOXX 50 futures 0.2 per cent.
In commodities, oil prices slipped for a third day on supply and trade war fears.
(With inputs from Reuters)
 "MARKET WRAP: Sensex ends 182 pts higher; RIL up 2.5%, Sun Pharma climbs 6%")
