Equity markets staged a smart recovery in the last hour of Wednesday's trading session amid brisk buying in information technology (IT) and financial counters. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex settled off-day's high at 40,412.57 level, up 172.69 points or 0.43 per cent. HDFC, TCS, ICICI Bank, and Infosys were among the top contributors towards the recovery. In the intra-day trade, the Sensex hit a high and low of 40,466.13 and 40,135.37, respectively.
On the NSE, the Nifty50 gained 53.35 points, or 0.45 per cent, to end at 11,910.15 level.
On the sectoral front, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs) gained in the fag end of the trading session on reports that the Union Cabinet has approved partial relaxation in norms governing Credit Guarantee Scheme to support the NBFC sector. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to address the media at 5:30 PM today.
Overall, Nifty IT index ended as the top performer on the NSE, up over 1 per cent, followed by Nifty Realty index (up 0.94 per cent) and Nifty Financial Services index (0.68 per cent). On the downside, Nifty Metal index slipped 0.25 per cent at close.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE mid-cap index gained 0.53 per cent to settle at 14,595.09, while the S&P BSE small-cap index settled 0.06 per cent higher at 13,153.55 level.
BUZZING STOCKS Shares of YES Bank slipped up to 19 per cent to Rs 41 in the intra-day trade on Wednesday on the BSE on concerns of the private sector lender’s fund raising plan. The bank on Tuesday told stock exchanges that it was considering the $500 million offer made by Citax Holdings and Citax Investment Group. The total value of the offers was $2 billion, the lender said. The stock eventually closed 15.33 per cent lower at Rs 42.80 per share.
READ MORE Shares of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) continued to trade under pressure on Wednesday and dipped 2 per cent to hit an over nine-month low level of Rs 1,256 on the BSE over concerns of lower order inflow and revenue growth. The counter settled at Rs 1,236.6 per share, down 1.2 per cent.
READ MORE Shares of Dish TV surged as much as 8.5 per cent to Rs 14.15 in the early trade on Wednesday amid media reports that direct-to-home (DTH) operations of the company and Bharti Airtel may merge. The stock, however, pared gains after the company clarified that it was not aware of any such transaction. It settled 2.2 per cent higher on the BSE at Rs 13.33.
READ MORE GLOBAL CUES
Asian stocks extended earlier gains on Wednesday, although advances were patchy ahead of key central bank meetings. The US Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision will be announced later today, which is widely expected to hold ineterst rates at 1.5-1.65 per cent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5 per cent higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 led gains with 0.7 per cent rises. Shanghai blue chips rose 0.2 per cent.
(With inputs from Reuters)
 "MARKET WRAP: Sensex up 173 pts, Nifty tops 11,900; IT, realty stocks gain")
