Markets settle near day's high; Sensex up 321 points, Nifty ends at 9,897

All that happened in Wednesday's session

In a choppy trade, the benchmark indices extended gains for the second straight session on Wednesday as FMCG and auto stocks rallied.

Caution prevailed as a faster-than-expected rise in consumer price inflation in July reduced the chances of another interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India, which cut its main policy rate early this month by 25 basis points to 6%, the lowest since November 2010.

Overseas, European markets inched higher as geopolitical tensions regarding the Korean peninsula eased and investors tracked a muted performance overnight on Wall Street. 

Investors also awaited minutes of the US Federal Reserve's July meeting, which are due later in the session and should show how the debate on rate hikes is shifting within the central bank.

3:55 PM

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services

 

GST rate revision potential has given the much needed diversion that market needed, especially for FMCG stocks, while it also helped that global risk appetite was seen improving after North Korean impasse softened. RBI minutes will now give some insight on the panel’s thinking on inflation expectation.

3:47 PM

Sectoral trend

Source: NSE

3:42 PM

Top Sensex gainers and losers 

Source: BSE

3:40 PM

Market breadth

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. 1,647 shares rose and 942 shares fell. A total of 115 shares were unchanged.

3:38 PM

Broader markets mirror key indices 

The BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices added 1% and 1.3%, respectively. 

3:36 PM

Markets extend gains for second session

The Sensex ended at 31,770, up 321 points, while the Nifty50 settled 103 points higher at 9,897. In intraday trade, the Nifty had hit its crucial 9,990 mark. 

3:30 PM

Buzzing stocks

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3:21 PM

Asian markets end mixed

Asian markets ended mixed as tensions in the Korean peninsula went off the boil. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.3% and Japan's Nikkei lost 0.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.8%, while China's Shanghai Composite ended 0.1% lower. 

3:19 PM

European markets

Miners and oil stocks helped Europe's major share index make robust gains on Wednesday as higher metals prices lent a hand and investors awaited euro zone GDP figures expected to confirm the bloc's economic growth was on track. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.7% its third day of gains after a sharp sell-off last week. Euro zone stocks and blue chips jumped 0.8%.

 

 

3:02 PM

Markets check

Market extend gains in noon deals. At 3:00 am, the Sensex was trading at 31,782, up 333 points, while the broader Nifty50 was at 9,897, up 100 points. 

2:45 PM

Inflation may limit further monetary easing

 

Retail and wholesale inflation accelerated in July and the uptrend is likely to continue in the coming months, limiting the space for further monetary easing, says a Morgan Stanley report. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

2:12 PM

Top sectoral gainer

 

Consumer stocks gained as the Nifty FMCG index rose over 3%, recovering from recent losses sparked by worries about the impact of goods and services tax (GST). Tata Global Beverages, Godrej Industries and ITC led the gains on the index. 

 

1:39 PM

Buzzing stock

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1:19 PM

Buzzing stock

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1:01 PM

Market check

At 1:00 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 31,589, up 140 points while the broader Nifty50 index was ruling at 9,832, up 38 points.

Broadermarkets outperformed benchmark indices with BSE Midcap and BSE smallcap up 0.8% and 0.9% respectively.