Sensex, Nifty Close On Firm Note Again

(RTTNews) - Indian stocks closed on a positive note on Wednesday, extending previous session's gains, amid expectations of further reduction in GST rates, and hopes of a larger than expected interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The positive mood was also due to the prospects of further negotiations between the U.S. and India to address tariff issues. US President Donald Trump has expressed confidence in concluding discussions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who underscored the strategic importance of the India-US partnership.

The BSE benchmark Sensex, which climbed to 81,643.88 early on in the session, closed with a gain of 323.83 points or 0.4% at 81,425.15. The National Stock Exchange's Nifty50, which advanced to 25,035.70, settled at 24,973.10, gaining 104.50 points or 0.42%.

Technology stocks were in demand once again. The Nifty IT index surged 2.63%, with several key stocks in the sector posting strong gains. Infosys, Tech Mahindra and TCS gained 1.8 to 2%.

Oracle Financial soared more than 10.5% after the parent company Oracle Corp shares zoomed nearly 30% in after-hours trading after the company issued an ambitious outlook for its cloud business.

Persistent Systems, Coforge, Mphasis, Wipro, HCL Technologies, LTMindTree gained 2.3 to 5.5%.

PSU bank stocks were the other star performers. Realty stocks were in demand too, while automobile stocks were weak.

Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Indian Bank, Maharashtra Bank, PSB and Canara Bank climbed 2.5 to 4.3%. PNB, UCO Bank, IOB, State Bank of India, Central Bank of India and Bank of Baroda also posted strong gains.

Sobha, Brigade Enterprises, AnantRaj, Raymond and Godrej Properties were among the prominent gainers in the realty sector.

Automobile stocks M&M, TVS Motor, Baja Auto, Maruti Suzuki, HeroMotocorp, Eicher Motors, Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland close with sharp to moderate losses.