FINAL TRADE: Nifty 2 pts shy of 22,600, Sensex jumps 268 pts aided by oil & gas, FMCG stocks

Stock market today: Domestic equity benchmarks Nifty50 and Sensex gained on Wednesday, May 22 aided by buying in oil & gas and Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) stocks. Sensex rose 267.75 points, or 0.36 per cent, to settle at 74,221.06 while Nifty 50 closed at 22,597.8, up 68.75 points, or 0.31 per cent. 

Cipla, Tata Consumer Products, Hindustan Unilever, Coal India, and Britannia led the gains in Nifty50 while Shriram Finance, Apollo Hospitals, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco, and HDFC Life were the top decliners.

"Despite mixed global market sentiments ahead of the US FED minutes, Indian markets exhibited a subtle positive trend. Investors are optimistic about stable Q4 earnings and easing election jitters that had previously increased volatility," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.

"Interest in the FMCG sector has risen due to the potential for an early onset of monsoon. Nevertheless, markets may underperform in the short term as they wait for the election outcome, with FIIs staying on the sidelines, said."

Nifty Bank closed 0.55 per cent lower at 47,781.95. Nifty FMCG Index—which reflects the behavior of FMCG Indian companies from the FMCG sector—jumped 1.43 per cent at close. 

Meanwhile, the domestically focussed Nifty SmallCap 100 and Nifty MidCap100 settled mixed. Nifty SmallCap 100 was down 0.35 per cent while later gained 0.19 per cent, respectively.

Investors await the US Federal Reserve’s FOMC meeting minutes due later in the day.

Global Market

European stocks traded lower on Wednesday, as regional markets continue to see-saw over the British inflation data and the trajectory of interest rates.The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.25 per cent seen at the last count. 

For all other news related to business, politics, tech and auto, visit Zeebiz.com.