Sensex, Nifty Close Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The major Indian benchmarks Sensex and the Nifty ended modestly higher on Thursday thanks to some strong buying at select counters in the final minutes of the day's session.

After opening on a weak note, the market languished in negative territory despite slowly paring its losses, with investors tracking quarterly earnings updates.

Worries about rising inflation and global economic slowdown amid rising borrowing costs rendered the mood extremely cautious.

The benchmark BSE Sensex ended the session with a gain of 95.71 points or 0.16% at 59,202.90, more than 400 points off the day's low of 58,791.28. The broader Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange, which dropped to 17,421.00, settled at 17,563.95, recording a gain of 51.70 points or 0.3%.

HCL Technologies climbed about 2.25%. Tech Mahindra surged 2.15%, NTPC, Power Grid Corporation, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys gained 1 to 2%.

Nestle gained more than 1.5%, after the company reported an 8.3% jump in second-quarter net profit. ITC, Wipro and Tata Steel also posted notable gains.

IndusInd Bank ended 4.7% down despite reporting an increase of over 57% in second quarter consolidated net profit.

Asian Paints drifted down 2.25%. UltraTech Cement shed 1.4%, weighed down by a 42% drop in second quarter net earnings.

UPL rallied 5.3%. Adani Enterprises, BPCL, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports, Hindalco, Cipla, Divi's Laboratories and ONGC gained 1 to 2.6%.

Tracxn Technologies made an impressive debut. The stock ended at Rs 94.20, well above the issue price of Rs 78.50.

The market breadth was almost neutral once again. On BSE, 1649 stocks moved higher, 1770 stocks closed weak, and 136 stocks ended flat.