Sensex, Nifty Snap 4-day Losing Streak, Close Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Indian shares closed higher on Tuesday, recovering after four straight days of losses, thanks to bargain hunting at several counters, and data showing a drop in the nation's consumer price inflation.

Data released by the National Statistical Office after trading hours on Monday showed India's consumer price inflation softened slightly to 5.22% in December from 5.48% in November. Inflation was expected to come in at 5.3%.

India's wholesale price inflation accelerated in December to the highest level in six months, provisional data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry revealed on Tuesday.

The wholesale price index, or WPI, rose 2.37% year-over-year in December, faster than the 1.89% increase in September. Economists had expected inflation to rise to 2.3%.

The BSE benchmark Sensex, which climbed to 76,835.61, gaining more than 500 points in the process, ended the session with a gain of 169.92 points or 0.22% at 76,499.63.

The broader Nifty50 index of the National Stock Exchange closed up 90.10 points or 0.39% at 23,176.05, nearly 90 points off the day's high.

Bank, automobile, metal and pharmaceuticals shares moved up sharply.

Adani Ports rallied about 4.8%. NTPC gained about 4.2% and Tata Steel climbed 3.3%. Zomato, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank and Maruti Suzuki gained 2 to 3%.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, M&M and Power Grid Corporation also closed notably higher.

Adani Enterprises surged more than 7%, topping the Nifty gainers list. Shriram Finance, NTPC, Hindalco and BEL gained 4 to 5%.

ONGC, Coal India, Eicher Motors, SBI Life, HeroMotocorp and Grasim Industries also posted solid gains.

HCL Technologies tumbled 8.6% despite reporting a surge in consolidated net profit the third quarter. The stock fell as the company's revenue guidance for the current financial year fell short of expectations. The IT major reported consolidated net profit of Rs 4,590 crore for the third quarter, compared to Rs 4,235 crore a quarter earlier.

Hind Unilever ended lower by about 3.5%. Titan Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, UltraTech Cement and Infosys lost 1.1 to 1.4%.