Sensex gains 103 points, Nifty ends at 10,741 as IT stocks recover

The Sensex and Nifty ended higher on Wednesday, led by IT stocks such as Tata Consultancy Services, as the technology index recovered to close 0.55 per cent higher after losing 4.3 per cent over the previous five sessions. However, negative trend in Asian markets and US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal capped gains on the benchmark indices.

The Sensex ended at 35,319, up 103.03 points, while Nifty50 closed at 10,741, up 23.90 points. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices underperformed to lose 0.6 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively. 

Market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market turned negative. On the BSE, 1,507 stocks declined, 1,176 stocks rallied, while 127 stocks remained unchanged. 

"The US decision to withdraw from nuclear deal with Iran added pressure on oil prices while gains in IT index owing to weaknesses in rupee and other stock specific buying led the bourses to close positive. Volatility in bond yield will impact companies’ margins which may lead to a cascading impact on earnings expectation," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The major gainers on the BSE were Tata Motors (DVR), Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Yes Bank, while Sun Pharma, Wipro, NTPC, ICICI Bank and Maruti Suzuki were the major losers.

On the NSE, the top gainers were Tata Motors, Titan and Tata Steel. The major losers were Ultratech Cement, BPCL and Lupin. 

Oil marketing companies like Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp ended down, after falling as much as 3.5 per cent during the session, as global oil prices jumped after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal.

Overseas, Crude oil prices jumped back to 3-1/2-year highs on Wednesday after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of an international nuclear deal with Iran, while the dollar continued its tireless ascent and world stocks held steady.

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, was flat in percentage terms and continued to trade in a narrow range. The pan-European STOXX 600 meanwhile rose 0.2 percent as oil majors gained and earnings from Siemens and Imperial Brands (IMB.L) dominated the market action.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat, while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.4 percent.

On Tuesday, the Sensex closed at 35,216.32 points, up 8.18 points or 0.02 per cent, while broader Nifty50 ended at 10,717.80 points, up 2.30 points or 0.02 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 97.15 crore, while the domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 923.25 crore, provisional data with the exchanges showed.