Sensex, Nifty rise for 3rd day on buying in banks, firm trends in European indices

Benchmark Sensex rose by 213 points while Nifty settled above the 19,400 level in a volatile trade on Wednesday following buying in banking counters and early gains in European stocks.

Rising for a third straight day, the BSE Sensex climbed 213.27 points or 0.33 per cent to settle at 65,433.30. During the day, it jumped 284.68 points or 0.43 per cent to 65,504.71.

The NSE Nifty gained 47.55 points or 0.25 per cent to end at 19,444 as 29 of its components ended in the green while 22 declined.

In the three days of gains, Sensex has rebounded 484.64 points while Nifty advanced by 133.85 points.

From the Sensex pack, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Power Grid and HDFC Bank were the major gainers.

Jio Financial Services, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, ITC, UltraTech Cement and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the laggards.

"On the domestic front, sentiments remained positive, backed by strong demand in the banking sector, though IT and pharma limited the gains," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Global markets have restrained from making significant moves as they await the outcome of the central bankers' gathering at Jackson Hole scheduled for Friday, Nair added.

Ajit Mishra, SVP (Technical Research) of Religare Broking Ltd, said that markets traded volatile and ended in the green in the absence of any major trigger.

Shares of companies related to aerospace and defense sectors were in the limelight ahead of the successful touch down of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface.

Shares of Bharat Forge climbed 2.82 per cent, Astra Microwave Products gained 1.72 per cent and Larsen & Toubro (1.42 per cent).

Centum Electronics, which delivered more than 200 mission critical modules to the Chandrayaan-3 mission, zoomed 14.91 per cent. Paras Defence and Space Technologies Ltd jumped 5.47 per cent, MTAR Technologies rallied 4.84 per cent and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd climbed 3.57 per cent on the BSE.

Many of these firms also hit their 52-week high levels during the day.

"Domestic equities remained firm for 3rd consecutive day ahead of the expected landing of Chandrayaan-3. Several defence companies which have supplied parts used in Chandrayaan-3 rallied on the expectation of a successful landing," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.60 per cent and midcap index gained 0.42 per cent.
Among the indices, bankex jumped 1.20 per cent, capital goods climbed 1.16 per cent, industrials (1.08 per cent), metal (1.05 per cent) and financial services (0.86 per cent).

Utilities, auto, oil & gas, power and services were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled in the green while Seoul and Shanghai ended lower. European markets were trading with gains. The US markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.83 per cent to USD 83.33 a barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers as they bought equities worth Rs 617.32 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.