The Indian equity markets made gains for the sixth consecutive session on Wednesday as a barometer index rose by 103 points or 0.38 percent after choppy trading during the day.
This is the sixth consecutive session of gains for the barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (S&P Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
In total, the index has gained 1,418.97 points since September 29, when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced cuts in key lending rates by 50 basis points.
However, volatility had prevailed through out the day's trade on Wednesday, as investors were cautious over the upcoming quarterly results and rising crude oil prices. Profit booking was witnessed in information technology (IT) and banking stocks.
Furthermore, investor sentiments were dampened a day after International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded India's growth to 7.3 percent for the current fiscal.
Another major dampener came as international crude oil prices rose sharply in the past few days and were hovering around the $50-mark, after rallying nearly five dollars on Tuesday.
The jump in the oil prices comes after the US Energy Information Administration cited lower inventory build-up and Russia's decision to hold talks with other major producers to discuss the market situation.
Notwithstanding the downward trajectory, the market made gains during late trading hour on the back of value buying and hopes of a status-quo from Bank of England on its lending rates.
The rupee too made gains during the day's trade. It gained by 43 paise to close at a new eight-week high of 64.98 to a US dollar from its previous close of 65.41 against the greenback.
The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed Wednesday's trade with modest gains. It ended marginally higher by 24.50 points or 0.30 percent at 8,177.40 points.
The barometer S&P BSE Sensex, which opened at 26,966.86 points, closed at 27,035.85 points -- up 102.97 points or 0.38 percent from its previous close at 26,932.88 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 27,082.28 points and a low of 26,877.51 points in the intra-day trade.
Analysts elaborated that the markets rose on the back of value buying, rupee's strong performance and expectations of better macro data on factory output and inflation.
"The anxiety over the upcoming earnings season had initially impacted the investors' sentiments," Anand James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, told IANS.
"However, a rise in value buying propped-up by the continuation of positive momentum due to last week's monetary easing and expectations of a better macro data on factory output and inflation drove prices higher during the late trading hours."
Nitasha Shankar, vice president, research with YES Securities, told IANS: "Metals, energy and auto stocks witnessed strong buying momentum; while tech stocks underwent profit booking along with few private banks."
Sector-wise, automobiles, metals and oil and gas stocks witnessed healthy buying, whereas, information technology (IT) and technology, entertainment and media (Teck) scrip came under intense selling pressure.
The S&P BSE automobile index zoomed by 243.48 points, metal index augmented by 197.05 points and oil and gas index rose by 115.92 points.
The S&P BSE IT index receded by 188.49 points and Teck index declined by 87.10 points.
Major Sensex gainers during Wednesday's trade were: Hindalco Industries, up 9.64 percent at Rs.81.90; Vedanta, up 5.83 percent at Rs.90.70; Tata Steel, up 4.25 percent at Rs.236.80; ONGC, up 3.99 percent at Rs.256.90; and Bajaj Auto, up 3.14 percent at Rs.2,452.30.
The major Sensex losers were: Axis Bank down 1.92 percent at Rs.496.90; Infosys, down 1.88 percent at Rs.1,133.15; Wipro, down 1.78 percent at Rs.589.10; Bharti Airtel, down 1.66 percent at Rs.343.30; and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), down 1.51 percent at Rs.2,655.10.
