Sensex, Nifty End Higher For Third Day; Tata Motors And ITC Hotels Tumble

(RTTNews) - Indian shares eked out modest gains on Thursday to end higher for a third straight session.

Global cues were positive after a hawkish hold from the Federal Reserve and broadly positive earnings from U.S. tech companies.

The upside was capped due to mixed domestic earnings results, the expiry of monthly F&O contracts and caution ahead of the Union Budget this weekend and next week's MPC meeting.

Following recent measures to address tight liquidity conditions in the banking system, the Reserve Bank of India is expected to commence the rate easing cycle with a 25-basis point rate cut in the February 7 policy meeting.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's second full Union Budget for the Modi 3.0 government is being looked at to provide the much-needed economic growth impetus to the world's fastest growing major economy.

The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex ended the session up 226.85 points, or 0.30 percent, at 76,759.81 - extending gains for a third day running.

The broader NSE Nifty index closed at 23,249.50, up 86.40 points, or 0.37 percent from its previous close.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes ended little changed. The market breadth was positive on the BSE, with 2,139 shares advancing while 1,808 shares declined, and 127 shares closed unchanged.

PSU stocks topped the gainers list, with BEL and Power Grid Corp rallying 4.9 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Cipla, Bharti Airtel and Hero Moto Corp all rose around 3 percent while Tata Motors plunged 7 percent after Q3 profit fell 22 percent year-on-year.

ITC Hotels tumbled 5 percent to extend losses for a second day running post-listing. Bajaj FinServ, Shriram Finance and Adani Enterprises fell 2-3 percent.