Sensex, Nifty End Slightly Higher Despite Simmering Geopolitical Tensions

(RTTNews) - Indian shares moved in a narrow range before finishing slightly higher on Wednesday amid hopes around upcoming trade talks between the United States and China.

A cautious undertone prevailed after the Indian armed forces early Wednesday carried out 24 precision missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan- Occupied Kashmir (POK), including Muridke and Bahawalpur, which are the strongholds of terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, respectively.

It was reported that over 70 terrorists were killed and more than 60 wounded, significantly degrading the operational capability of these groups.

Pakistan vowed retaliation and said it had shot down five Indian aircrafts, a claim yet to be confirmed by India.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex ended the session up 105.71 points, or 0.13 percent, at 80,746.78 while the broader NSE Nifty index closed at 24,414.40, up 34.80 points, or 0.14 percent, from its previous close.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes jumped 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively after having suffered steep losses in the previous session.

The market breadth was strong on the BSE, with 2,212 shares rising while 1,681 shares declined and 153 shares closed unchanged.

Tata Motors soared over 5 percent after shareholders approved a demerger plan, and the U.K. and India struck an ambitious trade deal.

One97 Communications, owner of Paytm, jumped 7.2 percent after narrowing its Q4 loss. MRF rallied 4.2 percent after the tyre manufacturer reported a 31 percent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in its Q4 profit.

Asian Paints tumbled 3.5 percent as crude prices extended gains after rallying more than 3 percent in the previous session.