Sensex, Nifty End Higher For 4th Straight Day

(RTTNews) - Indian stocks had a positive outing on Wednesday and despite paring some gains in the final hour, ended the session modestly higher, extending gains to a fourth straight day, with investors focusing on quarterly earnings updates.

The benchmark BSE Sensex, which rose nearly 440 points to 59,399.69, ended the session with a gain of 146.59 points or 0.25 percent. The broader Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange settled with a gain of 32.00 points or 0.18 percent at 17,518.95, well off the day's high of 17,607.60.

In the forex market, the rupee fell to a record low against the U.S. dollar, dropping to 93.02, down 66 paise, or about 0.8 percent from the previous close.

Nestle, up 2.14 percent, was the top gainer in the Sensex. The FMCG major reported an 8.3 percent increase in its second-quarter net earnings.

HDFC gained 2.13 percent, Reliance Industries advanced nearly 2 percent, ITC climbed 1.8 percent and Axis Bank surged 1.7 percent. HDFC Bank gained about 1 percent.

UltraTech Cement ended nearly 1 percent up, despite the company reporting a 42 percent drop in second-quarter net profit.

Bajaj Auto, Divi's Laboratories, Power Grid Corporation, SBI Life and Apollo Hospitals Enterprises also ended on a positive note.

NTPC, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Technologies, Infosys and Dr Reddy's Laboratories shed 1 to 1.77 percent.

Maruti Suzuki, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, JSW Steel, Coal India, Tata Motors, Tata Consumer Products, BPCL and Larsen & Toubro also closed weak.

The market breadth was somewhat netural. On BSE, 1657 stocks advanced, and 1761 stocks declined, while 153 stocks ended flat.