Sensex, Nifty end higher for 3rd straight day

Powered by fresh FII buying and gains in consumer durables, capital goods and realty shares ahead of the key US Fed policy to be announced later in the day, the stock markets closed higher for the third straight day on Wednesday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex soared 147.79 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 75,449.05. It advanced 267.12 points or 0.35 per cent to 75,568.38 during the day. The NSE Nifty climbed 73.30 points or 0.32 per cent to 22,907.60.

Tata Steel, Zomato, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports, NTPC, State Bank of India and Reliance Industries were among the major gainers from the Sensex pack, while Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Maruti, HCL Tech, and Nestle were among the losers from the Sensex pack.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said the domestic market continued its positive momentum, as part of the recent correction was justified by valuation. “The sustainability of the relief rally depends on a revival in fundamentals. The recovery was broad-based, while metal stocks gained attention after the government decided to impose a tax on steel imports,” he opined, while adding that in light of trade uncertainties and growth concerns, today's FED policy and the commentary will be keenly watched by investors to get cues on interest rates.

Siddhartha Khemka, Head--Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said key factors driving the market include FII buying and softness in the US dollar index.

Meanwhile, the BSE midcap gauge rose 2.28 per cent and smallcap index jumped 2.17 per cent. Realty advanced 2.75 per cent, industrials (2.55 per cent), services (2.48 per cent), power (2.30 per cent), utilities (2.16 per cent), telecommunication (1.48 per cent) and commodities (1.44 per cent) among BSE sectoral indices, while BSE Focused IT, IT, teck and FMCG were among the losers. While as many as 3,018 stocks advanced, 1,033 declined and 115 remained unchanged on the BSE.