Markets continue to rise on high-end purchases; SBI and Reliance excel

Amid a mixed trend in global equities, the major equity indexes Sensex and Nifty recovered from early lows to finish higher on Wednesday. This was aided by fag-end buying in energy, metal, and utility companies.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 71,822.83 points, up 267.64 points, or 0.37 percent, for the second consecutive day. During intraday transactions, the index fluctuated between a high of 71,938.59 points and a low of 70,809.84 points.

In addition, the larger NSE Nifty increased by 96.80 points, or 0.45%, to close the day at 21,840.05 points.

Rising 4.24 per cent, State Bank of India led the Sensex pack’s gainers, which also included Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Maruti, NTPC, PowerGrid, ITC, and Nestle India.

Reliance surged 1.5% to close at Rs 2,962.60 per share on the BSE. SBI’s shares ended the day at Rs 743.35 per.

On the other hand, the laggards were Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, TCS, Infosys, and HDFC Bank.

Asia’s Nikkei 225 index closed in negative territory, while the Hang Seng and Kospi indexes of South Korea and Hong Kong concluded in positive position.

The Lunar New Year holidays have shuttered China’s financial markets. In the early trades, European markets were trading well.

Tuesday’s overnight trading saw the US market close with hefty losses. Tuesday saw a 0.78 percent increase in Brent crude, the world’s standard oil, to USD 82.64 a barrel.

The Sensex increased 482.70 points, or 0.68 percent, in the previous session and ended at 71,555.19 points. To conclude at 21,743.25 points, Nifty increased by 127.20 points, or 0.59 percent.

According to exchange statistics, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 376.32 crore on Tuesday, making them net purchasers in the capital markets.