FINAL TRADE: Sensex gains 195 pts, Nifty settles at 18,857; HDFC duo leads rally

Stock market today: After scaling a fresh lifetime peak in the morning trade, the S&P BSE Sensex pared its gains later but still managed to settle with decent gains on Wednesday. At close, the 30-share index stood at 63,523.15 levels, up 195 points, or 0.31 per cent. NSE's Nifty50 ended at 18,856.85, up 40 points, or 0.21 per cent. The market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 2,94,36,594.50 crore at the close. Today, the m-cap rose by Rs 85,132.05 crore.

"The Sensex reaching an all-time high is great news as it truly reflects the buoyant mood in the Indian economy. Strong market performance is a testament to the strength of the macroeconomic factors at play. Strong signals from the international markets as well as favourable domestic factors, such as steady FII inflows, increased risk appetite, an optimistic view on interest rates from the RBI, and better-than-expected quarterly results, can be considered contributing factors to the stock market's rise," said Puneet Maheshwari, Director, Upstox.

Investor confidence has significantly increased as a result of India's remarkable economic growth, which is just beginning to unfold. "We believe that the opportunities that the expanding Indian economy has to offer should eventually be reflected in the markets," Maheshwari added.

Broader markets 

The Nifty Midcap 100 ended higher by 0.81 per cent at 35,614.4, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 ended flat at 10,832.05. Except for the Nifty Smallcap 50 and Nifty Next 50, all indices ended in positive territory.

Sectoral watch 

Nifty Bank ended 92.70 points higher at 43,859.2. While the Nifty Financial Services, IT, Media, Pharma, and Oil & Gas indices gave support, the Nifty Metal, Realty, and FMCG indices dragged the market.

Buzzing stocks 

Lupin surged and closed over 5 per cent higher as the company got approval from the US FDA for Spiriva Generic. Piramal Enterprises posted its biggest gain in three years as the company raised Rs 4,800 crore from Shriram Finance's stake sale. Shriram Finance stock also gained more than 11 per cent after Piramal sold its entire 8.3 per cent stake in the company.

Europe's healthy auto sales growth supported Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd, the stock closed over 4 per cent higher. The LIC Housing Finance scrip also closed 4 per cent higher with huge volumes. Indraprastha Gas Ltd. shares gained 3 per cent as the Delhi government permitted taxis to run on CNG for 15 years.

Conversely, metal stocks experienced some pressure tracking global cues, JSW Steel, and Hindalco slipped over 2 per cent each. HDFC AMC saw profit booking after a sharp move higher on Tuesday.

Global market 

In Asian markets, Tokyo ended in the green, while Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled lower. Equity markets in Europe were trading mostly in the green. The US markets ended lower on Tuesday.

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