Sensex gains 124 pts, Nifty tops 17,750; IndusInd Bank up 5%, Adani Port 3%

CLOSING BELL: Bottom fishing in select heavyweights lifted benchmark indices off lows, leading to a positive close for a third consecutive day on Wednesday

Sensex gains 124 pts, Nifty tops 17,750; Indusind Bank up 5%, Adani Port 3%

CLOSING BELL

Stock market highlights: Bottom fishing in select heavyweights lifted benchmark indices off lows, leading to a positive close for a third consecutive day on Wednesday. The S&P BSE Sensex, which hit an early morning low of 59,845, settled at 60,348, up 124 points or 0.21 per cent. The Nifty50, meanwhile, recouped from a low of 17,602, to end at 17,754, up 43 points or 0.24 per cent.

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Among top large gainers, IndusInd Bank rallied nearly 5 per cent, Adani Ports and Adani Entertainment 3 per cent each, Bajaj Auto 2 per cent, and M&M, ITC and L&T up to 1.5 per cent. On the flipside, Bajaj Finance slipped over 2 per cent, Hindalco (2 per cent), Apollo Hospitals (1.3 per cent), and Infosys, Tech M and Sun Pharma (1 per cent each).

Check Wednesday's buzzing stocks

The broader MidCap and SmallCap indices, too, ended in the green zone with up to 0.66 per cent gain. Sectorally, the Nifty Realty and Pharma indices were the worst hit (down 0.68 per cent and 0.49 per cent, respectively), while the Nifty Auto index advanced 0.85 per cent.

4:24 PM

COMMENT:: Uncertainty returns as Fed chief signals higher rate hike

"The global market has fallen back into the grip of uncertainty as the Fed chief signalled the possibility of a prolonged and faster rate hike, contradicting a dovish comment made by another Fed official last week. The market now anticipates a 50 bps rate hike, which has pushed the dollar index to a three-month high. However, a strong recovery was seen in the domestic market towards the end of the day, which kept the bulls on the move."

- Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

4:18 PM

COMMENT:: Bias positive for Nifty, Bank Nifty

“The Nifty Index going into tomorrow's expiry is seen having the highest open interest at the put side of the 17,600 level and the highest open interest on the call side is seen at the 17,800 strike. Traders have created short straddles at 17,700 level for tomorrow's expiry, which is giving a credit of only Rs 85-90 at today's close. This might not be the best way to play the Nifty Index for tomorrow as in the last half-an-hour, the market has already moved the index substantially and even a small gap-up tomorrow can cause trouble to these short positions. A better way to play tomorrow's expiry would be to enter the ITM call side straddle with a bought Put leg, as the bias is slightly towards the upside. This position will also help in the case of a downtick, as the bought put leg would be there to protect any loss. The Bank Nifty Index, which was looking strong through the day, has its next OI resistance only at 42,000 for tomorrow’s expiry, indicating room for the upside.””

- Rahul Ghose, Founder & CEO – Hedged, an algorithm-powered advisory platform

4:12 PM

Adani shares rally up to 5% after Group repays Rs 7,374 cr share-backed loan

So far in the last two months, the Adani Group have prepaid share-backed financing up to $2,016 million as part of the promoters' commitment to cut overall leverage. READ MORE

4:10 PM

JSL, JSHL hit new highs ahead of merger; zoom over 100% in six months

Jindal Stainless (Hissar) has fixed Thursday, March 9, 2023, as the record date for its merger with Jindal Stainless with a swap ratio of 1: 1.95. READ MORE

4:05 PM

Sugar shares in focus; Shree Renuka, Dwarikesh, Balrampur soar up to 7%

India has a cushion to export an additional 1 million tonnes of the sweetener if the domestic output reaches an estimated 33.6 million tonnes this year. READ MORE

4:02 PM

HAL, L&T gain up to 3% as government inks contracts worth Rs 9,900 crore

Hindustan Aeronautics received an order for 70 HTT-40 trainer aircraft worth over Rs 6,800 crore, while L&T bagged a contract worth Rs 3,100 crore for supply of three cadet training ships. READ MORE

4:00 PM

Kirloskar Oil Engines hits 20% upper circuit; records huge block deal

As many as 25.62 million equity shares, representing 17.7 per cent of total equity, worth Rs 825 crore of the company changed hands on the NSE, the exchange data shows. READ MORE

3:57 PM

Vardhman Special Steel soars 8% on starting production for Toyoto Group firm

The company said sales of these products for FY2023- 24 will be 10,000 MT approx and further increase with receipt of more approvals in next 2-3 years. READ MORE