Sensex, Nifty clock gains with buying in IT and finance stocks

Mumbai, Rising for the second straight session, equity benchmark Sensex climbed 142 points on Thursday following buying in IT and finance stocks amid a positive trend in global markets. After a see-saw session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 142.43 points or 0.23 per cent higher at 60,806.22. During the day, the index witnessed a high of 60,863.63 and a low of 60,472.81.

The broader NSE Nifty advanced 21.75 points or 0.12 per cent to finish at 17,893.45.

Bajaj Finserv topped the Sensex gainers' chart, rising 2.30 per cent, followed by Asian Paints, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, L&T and TCS.

In contrast, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, HDFC and Axis Bank were among the laggards, shedding up to 1.03 per cent.

The market breadth was positive, with 18 advances and 12 declines.

"Traders mostly remained on the sidelines in the absence of any fresh positive triggers, as worries of global slowdown and no signs of any pause on global rate hike cycle continued to weigh on the sentiment.

"Although markets were range-bound with a positive bias, fluctuation in the market could continue in the near term," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge slipped 0.01 per cent and the smallcap index dipped 0.15 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, IT climbed 0.88 per cent, technology 0.71 per cent, industrials (0.36 per cent) and Capital Goods (0.26 per cent).

Power, telecommunications commodities and realty were among the losers.

Markets closed higher for the second consecutive session, aided by buying in IT stocks and despite volatility in Adani group stocks following MSCI review of their free float weights in their indices, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

European stocks rose, after touching nine-month highs on Wednesday as investors pinned hopes on peaking inflation and a major recession now looking less likely on the continent, Jasani added.

"Any more-than-expected negative outcome of the MSCI review meeting on Adani company weights in their indices could result in a lower opening of Nifty on Friday," Jasani said.

Shares of Adani Power fell 5 per cent to close at 172.90 apiece on BSE after the company on Wednesday reported a 96 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 8.77 crore for the December quarter.

Edible oil major Adani Wilmar Ltd jumped 5 per cent to end at 440.30 per scrip. It has reported a 16 per cent increase in consolidated profit to Rs 246.16 crore for the third quarter.

Adani Group's flagship Adani Enterprises crashed 10.72 per cent to settle Rs 1,927.30. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone dropped 2.90 per cent to Rs 582.05. Adani Transmission and Adani Total Gas witnessed a fall of 5 per cent each, while Adani Green Energy fell 4.96 per cent.

The scrip of Ambuja Cements slipped 6.86 per cent to Rs 358, NDTV fell 4.92 per cent to Rs 216.55 and ACC dipped 2.91 per cent to Rs 1,915.95 on the exchange.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended with gains, while Tokyo settled in the red.

However, equity exchanges in Europe were trading in the positive territory in the afternoon session. Wall Street had ended lower in the overnight session.

The rupee closed flat at 82.54 against the US dollar on Thursday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.29 per cent higher at USD 85.34 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 736.82 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.