Market Wrap: Sensex jumps 404 pts, ends 9-day losing streak; IT, banks gain

The frontline indices ended over 1 per cent higher, snapping their 9-day losing streak, led by gains in information technology (IT), financials and metal stocks.

Among sectors, the Nifty Metal index, which was the top gainer of the day, ended 2.99 per cent higher led by Jindal Steel and Tata Steel. The Nifty Bank index, too, rose 1.02 per cent led by IDFC First Bank and State Bank of India.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap ended 144 points, or 1.04 per cent higher at 14,010, while S&P BSE SmallCap settled at 13,281, up 119 points, or 0.91 per cent.

BUZZING STOCKS

Shares of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) companies tumbled by up to 11 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday after an unfavorable Supreme Court (SC) verdict in Ericsson contempt case. In a big setback for Anil Ambani, the SC today held Reliance Group chairman and its two directors guilty of contempt in pleas filed by telecom equipment maker Ericsson for not clearing its dues of Rs 550 crore. Court asked Ambani to pay Rs 453 crore to Ericsson in four weeks, failing which he will have to serve three months of jail term. Shares of Reliance Capital ended 4.3 per cent lower at Rs 145.05 apiece on the BSE. 

FDI equity inflows fall 7% to $33.5 bn in first nine months of FY19

In some bad news for the Modi government, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows to India from April to December 2018 have declined by seven per cent. Latest figures released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) shows that India managed to attract almost $33.5 billion from April to December 2018. In the same period in 2017, India’s FDI equity flows stood at almost $36 billion.

The Modi government had stopped publishing quarterly FDI data since August 23, 2018. It resumed publishing FDI data in February this year. The latest release that captures FDI flows in the third quarter of 2018-19 shows that there has been a drastic decline in FDI in six out of the 10 sectors attracting the highest FDI flows. Sectors that have seen a decline in FDI during this period include computer software and hardware, telecommunications, construction, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and power