The pre-dominant mood was one of caution as investors booked profit ahead of a long weekend after deadly terror attacks at the Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday rekindled geo-political worries.
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After retaking the 25,000-mark, the 30-share Sensex advanced to a high of 25,327.45 before settling higher by 332.63 points, or 1.33 per cent, at 25,285.37 – its highest closing since January 6.
Mumbai: Increased prospects of a lower policy rate and firm Asian shares rubbed off on markets as the Sensex ended in the positive zone for the second straight session by soaring 333 points to close at 25,285, a almost 11-week high.
Stocks in China and Hong Kong rose, but equity markets elsewhere in the region edged lower with Taiwan and Australia leading losses.
The BSE metal index was the leader sectorally, climbing the most by 1.71 per cent, followed by technology (0.67 per cent) and IT (0.61 per cent).
Other that contributed to the fall include HDFC, Dr Reddy’s, Cipla, Sun Pharma, ITC, Adani Ports, HUL, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Wipro, TCS, GAIL, Infosys, Coal India, ONGC, M&M, L&T and ICICI Bank. “Energy and bank indices witnessed profit booking terminating in the red”, Shankar noted. Indian financial markets will remain shut Thursday and Friday for a local holiday and Good Friday. Broader markets are outperforming- BSE Midcap index is trading flat and the Smallcap index is up 0.2%.
The data with stock exchanges showed that FIIs invested Rs.976.91 crore, while the DIIs sold stocks worth Rs.1,022.58 crore.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.43%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.35%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.00%, Tata Steel up by 0.92% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.48%. Shares of the industrial and retail conglomerate had rallied over 8% this month till Tuesday. Shanghai Composite was also down 0.31 per cent. In scrip specific development, shares of Transcorp International have surged after the company received the in-principle authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for running “semi closed pre-paid payment instruments (PPI)’ service”.
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The index had risen over 653 points in the previous three sessions.
