Hopes of more economic reforms in the winter session of Parliament, which started today, and rejection of a no- confidence motion moved by Trinamool Congress over FDI in Lok Sabha due to lack of requisite numbers, boosted the sentiment which lifted the 50-issue Nifty to a high of 5,643.35.
But the adjournment of Lok Sabha over various issues, including FDI in retail, pulled the key index down to a low of 5,608 before it settled at 5,627.75, posting a rise of 12.95 points, or 0.23 per cent.
Asian stocks, barring China, finished higher after preliminary survey showed that manufacturing activity in the world's second-largest economy expanded this month for the first time in a year. Key indices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan rose between 0.24 per cent and 1.56 per cent.
European markets, too, were trading higher in the afternoon deals. The CAC was up 0.27 per cent, the DAX 0.73 per cent and the FTSE gained 0.40 per cent.
FIIs bought shares worth Rs 262.60 crore yesterday, according to Sebi data.
Top five gainers from the Nifty pack were Grasim (1.97 per cent), SBI (1.82 per cent), Axis Bank (1.67 per cent), L&T (1.60 per cent) and HCL Tech (1.59 per cent). Top losers were Tata Motors (2.54 per cent), Ultra Cem (1.71 per cent), Siemens (1.26 per cent), ICICI Bank (1.13 per cent) and Ranbaxy (0.93 per cent).
The turnover in cash segment dropped further to Rs 8,851.72 crore from Rs 9,353.28 yesterday. Overall, 5,322.55 lakh shares changed hands in 47,23,563 trades. Total market capitalisation stood at Rs 63,69,097 crore.
