Stock market today: Domestic blue-chip indices Nifty50 and Sensex advanced on Wednesday, April 24 helped by gains in heavyweight financials and metals stocks. Extending the gains for the fourth consecutive session, the Nifty index ended 34.4 points, or 0.15 per cent, higher at 22,402.4, and the Sensex settled with gains of 114.49 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 73,852.94.

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Among the Nifty 50 shares, 30 closed with gains while the 20 settled in red. Hindalo, Cipla and JSW Steel were the top gainers of Nifty 50 and Tata Consumer Products made into the list of top losers along with Grasim and Bajaj Auto at close.

"Indian markets lagged the Asian peers as Q4 earnings remained largely subdued with weak results from IT and a few index heavyweights results also disappointed. However, buoyed by strong manufacturing and service sectors, the Indian composite PMI hit a multi-year high, reflecting domestic resilience bringing some buoyancy in the broad market," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The high-beta Nifty Bank index, whose 12 constituents include SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, closed with a gain of 218.55 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 48,189. Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 gauges gained 0.76 per cent and 0.36 per cent for the day, respectively.

"Globally, investors sentiment improved with easing tensions in the Middle East and declining oil prices," he added. 

Global Market

European shares rose on Wednesday as the technology sub-index got a boost after ASM International's strong forecast, although gains were limited by a drop in banking stocks following a disappointing earnings report from Swedish lender Handelsbanken.

The pan-continent STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) edged 0.2 per cent higher by 0845 GMT, hovering levels seen more than a week ago, with the technology sector (.SX8P) gaining 2.3 per cent.

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