Nifty50 reclaims 24,850 as L&T, HDFC Bank help market rise for 2nd day; all eyes on F&O expiry

Domestic equity benchmarks finished a volatile session in the green on Wednesday, rising for a second straight day, led by gains in heavyweights like Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and HDFC Bank. Dalal Street bulls shrugged off caution across global markets, where investors remained on edge ahead of an August 1 deadline when a 90-day pause on tariffs for a number of America's trade partners will be lifted. Buying interest in IT stocks like Infosys also supported the main gauges, though selling pressure in financial, and oil and gas shares limited the upside.

The Sensex ended 143.9 points, or 0.2 per cent, higher at 81,481.9 while the Nifty50 settled at 24,855.1, 34 points, or 0.1 per cent, higher for the day. Investors awaited more corporate earnings from India Inc for domestic cues.

Typically, analysts expect the expiry day to be volatile as traders rush to settle their positions.

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Top Nifty 50 gainers and losers

Among blue-chip stocks, Larsen & Toubro, Sun Pharma, Tata Consumer Products, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki India, SBI Life, and Axis Bank--closing between 0.9 per cent and 4.7 per cent higher--were the top gainers in the Nifty50 basket. On the other hand, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, PowerGrid, Bajaj Auto, Cipla, Coal India and Adani Enterprises--falling between 0.8 per cent and 3.5 per cent--were the worst hit among the 29 losers in the 50-blue-chip pack.

L&T was the biggest contributor to the gains in both main indices, a day after the construction giant staged a strong financial performance for the April-June period. L&T's net profit jumped almost 30 per cent while margin remained largely steady at 12.6 per cent.

The Nifty Bank--whose 12 constituents include SBI, HDFC Bank and other top lenders of the country--inched lost 71.3 points (0.1 per cent) after a volatile intraday journey, settling at 56,150.7.

Maruti Suzuki shares gained one per cent as investors awaited the auto giant's results due the next day.

Broader markets

Among broader indices, the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 0.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.

Overall market breadth was largely neutral with a positive bias, as 2,030 stocks fell while 1,964 declined on BSE.

Global markets

European markets began the day on a cautious note, with the pan-continental Stoxx 600 index edging up 0.1 per cent in early deals, following a mixed trend across major Asian markets. The UK's FTSE 100 index was up 0.3 per cent, while France's CAC and Germany's DAX barometers were up 0.6 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.

Dow futures were up over 30 points, or 0.1 per cent, indicating a mildly positive start on Wall Street later on Wednesday.