FINAL TRADE: Indices continue gains for fourth day as Nifty regains 22,400 and the Sensex rises 114 points, driven by financials and metal sectors

Current state of the stock market: increases in large-cap banking and metals sectors supported Wednesday’s increases in the domestic blue-chip indexes, the Sensex and Nifty50. The Nifty index closed 34.4 points, or 0.15 percent, higher at 22,402.4, continuing its advances from the previous session. The Sensex closed 114.49 points, or 0.16 percent, higher at 73,852.94.

Of the Nifty 50 shares, 20 ended the day in the red, while 30 ended the day in the black. The top Nifty 50 gainers were Hindalo, Cipla, and JSW Steel, while Tata Consumer Products, Grasim, and Bajaj Auto were among the top losers in the end.

“As Q4 earnings remained largely muted, with weak results from IT and a few index heavyweights’ results also disappointing, Indian markets lagged behind their Asian counterparts.” But the Indian composite PMI reached a multi-year high, driven by robust manufacturing and service sectors, indicating domestic resilience and providing some buoyancy in the overall market, according to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

With 12 components, including SBI, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank, the high-beta Nifty Bank index finished at 48,189, up 218.55 points, or 0.46 percent. The day’s gains for the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices were 0.76 percent and 0.36 percent, respectively.

“Globally, investors sentiment improved with easing tensions in the Middle East and declining oil prices,” he said.

worldwide market
ASM International’s optimistic outlook for the technology sub-index helped European equities rise on Wednesday, but gains were capped by a decline in banking stocks after Swedish lender Handelsbanken’s dismal results report.

By 08:45 GMT, the pan-continent STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) had increased by 0.2 percent, lingering around levels last seen almost a week ago. The technology sector (SX8P) had gained 2.3% of that gain.