Sensex, Nifty End Marginally Up As Stocks Rally On Late Buying

(RTTNews) - Indian benchmark stock indices Sensex and the Nifty50 ended marginally up on Wednesday, gaining for a fourth straight day, despite staying week for much of the day's trading session.

After a flat start and a subsequent marginal uptick, the market turned easy and then slipped a bit deeper into the red around mid afternoon before recovering gradually to settle slightly above the flat line.

The mood remained cautious amid lingering worries about global economic slowdown after recent data showed a contraction in China's services sector growth and a decline in Euro area business sentiment.

Global cues were weak as well, with Wall Street closing on a negative note overnight, and Asian stocks turning in a lackluster performance today.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended with a gain of 100.26 points or 0.15% at 65,880.52 after scaling a low of 65,488.03 and a high of 65,971.13 intraday. The broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange, which rallied to 19,636.45 from a low of 19,491.50, settled at 19,611.05, gaining 36.15 points or 0.18%.

FMCG, pharmaceuticals and oil stocks gained ground in positive territory, contributing significantly to the positive close.

Petronet surged nearly 7%. Castrol India and MGL both gained about 3.85%. IGL, ATGL, Gujarat Gas and GSPL gained 1 to 2%.

Pharmaceuticals shares Torrent Pharma, Lupin, Divi's Laboratories, Lalpath Labs, Aurbindo Pharma, Cipla, Metropolis and Abbot India gained 1.2 to 2.5%. Syngene International Limited shares climbed nearly 4%.

Tata Consumer Products, up 4.1%, was the top gainer in the FMCG sector. Radico Khaitan and McDowell gained 2.8% and 2.5%, respectively. PGHH, Colgate Palmolive, Emami, Britannia Industries, Marico and ITC also ended notably higher.

Jio Financial Services ended nearly 1% down as stocks is getting excluded from the Nifty50 and other NSE indices effective from 7 September.

Union Bank of India declined more than 2%. Bank of Baroda ended marginally down. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency has signed an MoU with Union Bank of India and Bank of Baroda to co-finance renewable energy projects.

Ind-Swift Laboratories hit the 20% upper circuit after the company's board approved the slump sale of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and CRAMS Business of the company to Synthimed Labs for an enterprise value of Rs 1,650 crore.

The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1,955 stocks moved higher, and 1,682 stocks declined, while 154 stocks ended flat.