The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex advanced 200 points on Wednesday, extending gains for the third straight session led by healthy buying in IT stocks. The sentiment was also boosted by an appreciating rupee and healthy foreign fund inflows.The BSE IT index rose 3.5 per cent, followed by Teck (technology, entertainment and media) stocks, though healthcare, oil and gas stocks on the bourse witnessed selling pressure."Strong global cues, fall in USD-INR and bond yield boosted the market sentiment. Both Asian and European markets gained on account of easing trade tension between China and US ahead of G-20 meeting in Argentina on Friday," a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services said."However, market breath was negative and select heavyweight stocks lifted Nifty."The Nifty PSU Bank index also witnessed selling pressure during the day and closed 1.34 per cent lower.The Sensex settled 203.81 points, or 0.57 per cent, up at 35,716.95, from its previous close of 35,513.14. It touched an intra-day high of 35,822.16 and a low of 35,605.34.The Nifty50 gained 36.15 points or 0.34 per cent to finish at 10,721.75."The ongoing elections contributed to market volatility and put a lid on intraday gains," said Abhijeet Dey, Senior Fund Manager-Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.Crude oil prices, which eased over the past month and supported the domestic and foreign investor sentiments, logged a slight increase on Thursday. Analysts attribute the rise to expectations of a decision to reduce supply in the OPEC meeting next week.
According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services, oil climbed as the Trump administration signalled optimism that a trade deal may be reached with China and an industry report indicated robust U.S fuel demand.The benchmark Brent crude price traded at $61 a barrel.The Indian rupee ended at Rs 70.62 per US dollar from its previous close of 70.76. "Technically, with the Nifty rallying higher after breaking out of the recent trading range, the bulls remain in control," said Deepak Jasani, Retail Research Head, HDFC Securities."Further upsides are likely once the immediate resistances of 10,758 are taken out. Crucial supports to watch for any weakness are at 10,690."Provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 961.26 crore on Wednesday while the domestic institutional investors sold Rs 330.29-crore shares.Top gainers on the Sensex were TCS, up 4.67 per cent at Rs 1,976.55; Infosys, up 4.61 per cent at Rs 666.35; IndusInd Bank, up 1.87 per cent at Rs 1,614; Reliance Industries, up 1.66 per cent at Rs 1,146.25; and ICICI Bank, up 1.33 per cent at Rs 359.05.The top laggards were Yes Bank, down 11.71 per cent at Rs 161.70, Bharti Airtel, down 4.26 per cent at Rs 314.50; Tata Motors, down 3.14 per cent at Rs 174.35; Tata Motors(DVR), down 2.70 per cent at Rs 95.50; and ONGC, down 2.49 per cent at Rs 142.65 per share.