Sensex extends gains for 2nd straight day; ends above 26,000-mark

Extending its gains for the second day, the Sensex ended above the 26,000-level on Wednesday, driven by short-covering in realty, metal and healthcare stocks ahead of November series expiry on Thursday amid buoyant global cues.

The 30-share pack resumed higher at 26,101.33 and hovered in a range of 26,130.49 and 25,877.16 before ending at 26,051.81, showing a gain of 91.03 points or 0.35 per cent.

The index has gained 286.67 points or 1.11 per cent in two days.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also firmed up further by 31 points or 0.39 per cent to end at 8,033.30.

“Positive cues from global markets continued to boost domestic sentiment, as markets broke their recent losing streak,” said Karthikraj Lakshmanan, Senior Fund Manager, Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

US stocks closed at record highs overnight, extending recent gains. The Dow Jones Industrials Average and S&P 500 cleared psychological milestones, with Dow closing above the 19,000 level for the first time while major indices too reached record highs.

Back home, a tepid growth outlook for the second half of this fiscal as well as lingering concerns over the impact of demonetisation continue to be a drag on market momentum, brokers said.

Participants are also keeping an eye on developments around GST, with the GST Council meeting scheduled for November 25 being postponed to December 2-3.

Shares of engineering major Larsen and Toubro ended 2.16 per cent higher at Rs 1,357.85 after the company on Tuesday reported an 84 per cent jump in net profit for the September quarter.

Meanwhile, foreign funds sold shares worth a net Rs 692.85 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Overseas, Asian stocks ended mixed. Japanese stock markets were closed for a holiday. Key indices in Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan firmed up by 0.23 per cent to 0.62 per cent, while China and Hong Kong fell by 0.01 per cent to 0.22 per cent.

European markets were trading narrowly mixed as key indices in France and Germany moved down by 0.25 per cent to 0.37 per cent while UK’s FTSE rose 0.58 per cent.