Sensex ends 276 pts higher, Nifty above 9,850; realty and banks lead

Catch all that happened in the market here

The Sensex and Nifty were ended higher on Wednesday, gaining for second straight session with Nifty reclaiming the 9,850-mark, led by realty, banking and financial stocks. The gains, however, remained range-bound for want of fresh triggers after a tepid results season.  

Infosys, continued to stay in news after co-founder NR Narayana Murthy postponed investors’ concall, which was supposed to be helg later today to August 29, citing health reasons. The stock rose 2%, extending gains from yesterday after it fell over 14% post Vishal Sikka's resignation as MD and CEO of the company. In another development, 

Globally, Asian stocks steadied, taking a breather after the previous day's surge, lacking the momentum to keep up with a global rally spurred by gains for tech shares on Wall Street and miners in Europe.

3:52 PM

Analyst View

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services says: After a range bound movement the market suddenly spiked up towards the last hour of trade supported by renewed buying in beaten down stocks. Banking stocks grabbed investor’s attention on account of cabinet nod to oversee PSU banks consolidation. Global market remains supportive ahead of Jackson Hole meeting tomorrow which may hold the market direction in the absence of major domestic cues.

3:50 PM

Nifty chart for the day

Source: NSE

3:48 PM

Banking and financial stocks rally

Banking and financial also contributed to the rally. Among private banks IndusInd Bank and ICICI Bank gained over 1.5% each while among PSU Banks PNB and Canara Bank were up 2.6% and 3.3% respectively. Nifty PSU Banks gained over 2% for the day.

Photo: Shutterstock

3:44 PM

Realty index up over 3%

The realty index was the top sectoral gainer, up 3.2% led by gains in IndiaBulls Real Estate, DLF, Delta Corp and HDIL

Source: NSE

3:42 PM

Top gainers and losers of Sensex

Source: BSE

3:38 PM

Broader Markets

Broader makrets outperformed the frontline indices with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap up over 1% each

3:36 PM

Markets at close

The Sensex and Nifty were ended higher on Wednesday, gaining for second straight session with Nifty reclaiming the 9,850-mark, led by realty, banking and financial stocks. The gains, however, remained range-bound for want of fresh triggers after a tepid results season.  

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 31,568, up 276 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 9,852, up 87 points

3:25 PM

Tata Power's Q1 profit from renewable business jumps 339% to Rs 142 cr

 

Tata Power on Wednesday said its renewable portfolio recorded a 329% jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 142.18 crore in the quarter to June 30, against the corresponding three months a year ago.

 

The renewable business capacity of Tata Power crossed 2,000 MW and non-fossil fuel portfolio stood at 3,144 MW, a 92 per cent increase from a year ago, it said in a statement.

3:18 PM

SMS Pharma surges

SMS Pharmaceuticals has surged 20% to Rs 87.60 on BSE in intra-day trade after the successful inspection of Telengana plant by Japanese regulator.

 

The company successfully completed inspection by Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) Japanese Authorities for the manufacturing facility-Unit II, located in Hyderabad – Telangana.

3:10 PM

Bearish operators tightening grip over gold futures

 

As gold prices hover around $1300 per ounce and Rs 29,000 per 10 gram in India, bearish operators are tightening their grip by raising speculative short bids in gold futures. Gold has faced resistance above $1300 last week and since then it fell below that while remaining in the tight range. 

 

Hopeful of a rise in prices, Indian traders have increased bearish bets with open interest surging to above 11,000 lots from 9,000 in August. Out of these, top 10 long side open positions are 3,691 lots while short positions of top 10 traders are at 6,334 lots. Gold futures are actively traded on Multi Commodity Exchange(MCX). 

Click here for full report

Representative Image

3:00 PM

Asian markets

In Asian markets, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up to a two-week high, before pulling back.

 

Financial markets have been buffeted in recent weeks by heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula, turmoil in the White House, and growing doubts about Trump's ability to fulfill his economic agenda.

 

Australian stocks were down 0.3% and South Korea's KOSPI gave back earlier modest gains to slip 0.1%.

 

Japan's Nikkei bucked the trend and rose 0.3%, lifted as the dollar strengthened against the yen.

2:53 PM

Investors want Nilekani back on Infosys board

Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) have written a letter to Infosys seeking the return of co-founder Nandan Nilekani on the company’s board. Nilekani left Infosys in 2009 to take charge at the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the implementing agency of Aadhaar. 

 

The letter mentioned that Nilekani would be the right person to have a “resolution” to the ongoing issues between the board and the management as he is considered a credible leader among customers, employees and all the other stakeholders.

 

Read the full letter here

2:41 PM

Banks lead

Banks were among the top gainers with private-sector lender IndusInd Bank rising 1.6%. Among state-run peers PNB and Canara Bank rose over 2.5% each.

2:30 PM

Vedanta earnings

Diversified miner Vedanta Resources said its quarterly core earnings rose about 48% as zinc production at its Indian unit jumped.

 

The company reported an 84% jump in mined metal content, comprised mainly of zinc, at its Indian unit to 233,000 tonnes for the first quarter ended in June 30.

 

The production jump boosted the unit's revenue by about 90% to $695 million.

2:14 PM

Buzzing Stock

BLS International Services rallied 18% to Rs 208 on BSE after the foreign institutional investor (FIIs) bought one percent point stake in the company through open market.

 

GMO Emerging Domestic Opportunities Fund had purchased 1.05 million equity shares or 1.02% stake in BLS International Services on Tuesday, August 22, at Rs 176.99 per share, the BSE bulk deal data shows.