Closing Bell: Sensex Rebounds 162 Points, Nifty Also Jumps By 47 Points

A day after the massive plunge, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Wednesday recovered by nearly 162 points on emergence of buying mainly in metal and banking counters, but the gains were capped by auto stocks.

Likewise, the NSE gauge Nifty rose 47 points to settle above the key 10,800-mark.

After swinging 367 points in a highly volatile session, the 30-share index ended 161.83 points, or 0.44 per cent, higher at 36,724.74. It hit an intra-day high of 36,776.31 and low of 36,409.54.

The broader Nifty after opening on a flat note in the morning traded in the range of 10,858.75 and 10,746.35 during the session. It finally ended the day with 46.75 points, or 0.43 per cent, gains at 10,844.65.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Bharti Airtel, SBI, Tata Steel, Vedanta, NTPC, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, ONGC, ICICI Bank and L&T, which rose up to 2.97 per cent.

On the other hand, Maruti was the biggest laggard, plunging 3.64 per cent after the company announced a two-day suspension of its manufacturing operations at its Gurugram and Manesar plants in Haryana.

Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Bajaj Auto and RIL too fell up to 2.97 per cent.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE barometer ended 769.88 points, or 2.06 per cent, lower at 36,562.91, while the Nifty sank 225.35 points, or 2.04 per cent, to settle at 10,797.90.

Top losers in the Sensex pack in early trade on Wednesday included Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, RIL, Maruti and Tata Motors, which fell up to 4 per cent.

On the other hand, ITC, Bharti Airtel, SBI, PowerGrid, Hero MotoCorp, Vedanta and L&T rose up to 1.23 per cent.

On Tuesday, foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net of Rs 2,016.20 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 1,251.35 crore, provisional data showed.

Hang Seng rallied 3.90 per cent on reports that Hong Kong’s embattled pro-China leader Carrie Lam would formally withdraw the much-despised extradition bill on Wednesday that sparked the nearly three-month long protest crisis which virtually paralysed the city.

Shanghai Composite Index, Nikkei and Kospi too ended up to 1.16 per cent higher. Exchanges in Europe were also trading with significant gains in their respective early sessions. The Indian rupee appreciated 34 paise (intra-day) to trade at 72.05 per US dollar. Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.39 per cent to 58.48 per barrel (intra-day).

(With inputs from PTI)