Sensex rises 130 points, Nifty closes above 24,050 led by banking, oil & gas stocks

MUMBAI: The Indian stock markets lost early gains and ended marginally higher on Wednessday led by banking, oil & gas and consumer durable stocks, with the Sensex rising over 130 points and Nifty closing above 24,050 level amid mixed global cues. The Nifty closed higher at 24,078.50, up 26.45 points or 0.11 per cent, while the Sensex ended at 77,185.43, up 130.49 points or 0.17 per cent.

Sectorally, Nifty Cement emerged as a top gainer, inching over a per cent while most of the sectors traded in the green. Among losers, Nifty Metal was the top drag, sliding 1.11 per cent. Broad market indices traded in the positive zone. On BSE, UltraTech Cement, Eternal, SBI, IndiGo, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Maruti, Sun Pharma, Adani Ports, Reliance, ITC, BEL, ICICI Bank, among others, were the top gainers. Meanwhile, Power Grid, Tata Steel, LT, Kotak Bank, TCS, Hindustan Unilever among others were the top drags.

Brent crude was trading at USD 85.30 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading at USD 80.05 per barrel at the time of reporting. At the same time, the yellow metal was trading at USD 4,027.69 per ounce. Gold prices eased on Wednesday after surging more than 2 per cent in the previous session, as higher oil prices stoked inflation concerns and clouded the outlook for U.S. interest rates, reducing the appeal of non-yielding bullion.

Spot gold fell 0.6 per cent to USD 4,028.13 an ounce by 0614 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for August delivery declined 0.9 per cent to USD 4,033.90.

Market analyst Vipin Dixena noted, “Banking, oil & gas and consumer durable stocks helped the Nifty to recover from intraday low and close in the positive.”

“Nifty closed nearly flat to mildly positive/negative around the 24,000 zone today, as the index remained range-bound and faced resistance near the 24,130-24,150 band. The index is trading below the 50-day EMA, while RSI suggest momentum is still weak, keeping the near-term trend cautious,” Dixena said. (ANI)