The Indian equity benchmarks rose for third session in a row on Wednesday paced by gains in information technology, metal and pharma shares. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening wherein the Sensex rose as much as 405 points and Nifty 50 index briefly moved above its important psychological level of 14,200. However, the benchmarks came off intraday highs in noon deals on the back of weakness in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
The Sensex ended 254 points or 0.5 per cent higher at 51,280 and Nifty 50 index climbed 76 points or 0.51 per cent to close at 15,175.
“Nifty 50 Index ended below the resistance level of 15,250. The expected level should range between 14,900 and 15,250, and it is going to crucial for the short-term market scenario to stay above 14,900. While it is subject to further price action evolution, It is suggested prudent to wait for a decisive breakout above 15,250 and technical factors to improve before going long in the market. The traders are advised to refrain from building a new buying position until further improvement,” Ashis Biswas, head of technical research at CapitalVia Global Research said in a statement.
All the 11 sector gauges, barring the index of PSU banks, ended higher led by the Nifty IT and Metal indexes’ nearly 2 per cent gain. Nifty Pharma, FMCG, Auto, and Realty indexes also rose between 0.6-1 per cent.
Mid- and small-cap shares outperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index advanced 0.8 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 1.41 per cent.
Eicher Motors was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 3 per cent to close at Rs 2,673. JSW Steel, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Cipla and IndusInd Bank also rose between 1.7-3 per cent.
On the flipside, SBI Life, ONGC, HDFC Life, Indian Oil, Kotak Mahindra Bank, GAIL India, Adani Ports, ITC and Hero MotoCorp were among the losers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1.628 shares ended higher while 1,350 closed lower on the BSE.