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Stocks made some headway today as the benchmark Sensex rebounded by over 145 points to close at 28,129.84, a two-week high, driven by financials and metal and underpinned by earnings traction and upbeat global cues.
Sentiment got a lift from positive Asian indices after Democrat Hillary Clinton is perceived to have won the third and final US presidential debate against Republican Donald Trump in Las Vegas.
Uptick in crude oil prices provided more heft to the upmove, said brokers.
"The market trend is positive and reacts mostly to stock specifics. Also, the sentiment from final phase of US presidential election has favoured the market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
The 30-share Sensex closed up 145.47 points, or 0.52 per cent, at 28,129.84 -- a level last seen on October 5 when it had closed at 28,220.98.
The 50-share NSE Nifty shed some ground to settle at 8,699.40 points, up 40.30 points, or 0.47 per cent.
Buying gathered pace on hopes of better second quarterly earnings from RIL ahead of the announcement later in the day, which made the pace more brisk. The stock ended 0.15 per cent up.
Private lender Yes Bank climbed 1.31 per cent after its net profit jumped 31.3 per cent. ICICI Bank, the biggest private lender, jumped 4.72 per cent while state-owned SBI gained 2.02 per cent.
But select software exporters such as Infosys and Wipro came under selling pressure and fell 0.45 per cent and 0.09 per cent, respectively. IT exporters' almost 60 per cent revenue comes from the US and European markets.
Out of the 30 Sensex stocks, 19 ended with gains while Lupin, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Infosys, HDFC Bank, ITC, Asian Paints, M&M and NTPC lost.
Sector-wise, the BSE bankex gained the most by rising 1.42 per cent, followed by metal 1.36 per cent, realty 0.98 per cent, consumer durables 0.65 per cent, PSU 0.65 per cent and capital goods 0.61 per cent.
Broader markets too were in a better shape, with small-cap and mid-cap indices rising 0.50 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively, as investors widened their bets.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 282.77 crore yesterday, showed provisional data.
Overseas, Asian stocks ended up with indices like Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea and Taiwan rising by 1.39 per cent.
Europe was higher too ahead of an interest rate decision by the European Central Bank. Key indices in France and Germany jumped up by 0.20 per cent, but the UK was down 0.07 per cent.
