Sensex reclaims 28,300 levels as SBI, Tata Group stocks rally

The S&P BSE Mid-cap and the small-cap indices were trading nearly 1% higher in late noon deals

After remaining listless all though morning deals, and a day ahead of the expiry of the derivative contracts (F&O) for September, markets gained momentum in the second half, with the S&P BSE Sensex surging over 100 points, or 0.4%, to 28,341 levels, while the Nifty50 index rallied to 8,755 levels, up 0.6% or around 50 points.

The rally among the BSE benchmark was led by State Bank of India (SBI), which gained nearly 2.6% to Rs 255 levels. Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank and Power Grid were some of the other notable gainers that surged 1.3% - 2.2% by 2:30pm.

Broader markets, however, continued to outperform the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-cap and the small-cap indices were trading nearly 1% higher.

BUZZING STOCKS

Among the other buzzing stocks of the day were MRF, Birla Corporation, Kajaria Ceramics, Bayer Cropsciences, Lumax Industries, Dishman Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals and Shree Pushkar Chemicals & Fertilisers that were trading at their respective record highs on the BSE on Wednesday.

Atul, Gulf Oil Lubricants, Manpasand Beverages, Shriram City Union Finance, Vivimed Labs, Biocon, IDFC Bank and TVS Srichakra are among others shares who were quoting at their new highs.

IDFC Bank surged 5% to Rs 80, crossing a market capitalisation of Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 27,279 crore on the BSE in intra-day deals.

ASIAN MARKETS

Asian stocks were lower on Wednesday, with European banking sector concerns and lower crude oil prices dulling investors' appetite for riskier assets.

Equities in Asia had gained on Tuesday from a perceived win by Democrat Hillary Clinton at the first presidential debate over Republican Donald Trump, who is seen as creating greater uncertainty for the U.S. and global economies.

But the relief gave way to angst about the European financial sector, gripped by worries over the health of Deutsche Bank, whose shares hit a record low overnight.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2%, erasing earlier modest gains. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.5% and Shanghai lost 0.3%. Australian stocks slipped 0.1%.

Japan's Nikkei underperformed and was last down 1.4%. Japanese stocks were dogged by threats of a robust yen, which hurts exporters' earnings.

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENTS

The Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod to a consortium of IOC, Oil India and BPCL buying stakes in two Russian oilfields for a total of $3.14 billion. IOC, Oil India and a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) will buy 29.9% stake in Taas-Yuryakh oilfield in East Siberia for $1.12 billion and another 23.9% in Vankor oilfield for $2.02 billion, reports suggest.

Bharti Airtel on Wednesday launched international roaming (IR) packs offering free incoming calls, free calling minutes and texts to India to customers travelling abroad. The roaming packs also come bundled with data, reports say. Data rates during international roaming have effectively been reduced by 99% as it will now be charging Rs 3/MB from Rs 650/MB earlier.

Ahluwalia Contracts (India) on Wednesday said it has bagged order worth Rs 151.39 crore from Bharat Electronics. "The company has received a new order aggregating Rs 151.39 crore work awarded from Bharat Electronics," the company said in a BSE filing.

With Reuters inputs