Closing Bell: Sensex gains 186 points, Nifty inches closer to 12,000

Market benchmark Sensex rose by 186 points on Tuesday, tracking substantial gains in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel amid positive cues from global equities. The 30-share index ended 185.51 points, or 0.46 per cent, higher at 40,469.70. It hit an intra-day high of 40,544.13 and a low of 40,290.21.

As many as 11 of 30 Sensex stocks ended in green. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 55.60 points, or 0.47 per cent, to end at 11,940.10. Reliance Industries led the gains on Sensex, rallying nearly 4 per cent as it touched its life-time high of Rs 1,514.95 (intra-day).

It became the first Indian company to hit the Rs 9.5 lakh-crore market capitalisation level. Shares of Bharti Airtel soared 7.36 per cent and Vodafone Idea rallied 34.68 per cent after both the companies announced a hike in mobile phone call and data charges from December. Axis Bank, PowerGrid, Tech Mahindra, SBI, IndusInd Bank and Infosys were among the other gainers.

On the other hand, Yes Bank dropped 2.66 per cent to emerge as the biggest Sensex loser, M&M fell by 2.19 per cent, and Tata Steel by 2.02 per cent. TCS, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp also declined. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong settled significantly higher while those in Tokyo and Seoul settled in the red.

On Monday, the Sensex ended 72 points down at 40,284. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 11 points to end at 11,884. On the currency front, the rupee depreciated 10 paise (intra-day) against the US dollar to trade at 71.94 in early session. Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.22 per cent to USD 62.30 per barrel.

In early trade on Tuesday, top gainers in the Sensex pack included Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, RIL, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, Infosys, Yes Bank and HDFC Bank, rising up to 5 per cent. On the other hand, Vednata, HUL, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, TCS, ONGC and Tata Steel fell up to 2 per cent. European equities were trading on a positive note in their respective early deals.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee depreciated by 17 paise to 71.86 against the US dollar in intra-day trade. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.83 per cent to USD 61.92 per barrel.

(With inputs from PTI)