Image Source: Agencies

The benchmark Sensex rallied 173 points higher from early lows on Wednesday following buying by Reliance Industries, Larsen and Toubro and ITC and positive performance in Asian and European markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 173.22 points, or 0.26 percent, to settle at 66,118.69, with 20 of its constituents ending in the green and 10 closing lower. The index opened lower and fell further to a lower level of 65,549.96 in morning trade. However, the acquisition of Reliance, LandT, Infosys and Maruti helped recover the losses. It later jumped 226.8 points, or 0.34 percent, to a high of 66,172.27. The Nifty rose 51.75 points, or 0.26 percent, to end at 19,716.45. It moved between a low of 19,554 and a high of 19,730.70 in intraday trade. Gainers on the Sensex include Larsen and Toubro, ITC, Sun Pharma, Maruti, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and Hindustan Unilever. The biggest laggards were Titan, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel and Nestle. "The market rose in the second half of the year, driven by the positive opening of the European markets. Concerns about rising global interest rates and oil prices are offset by a number of domestic factors such as a promising economic growth outlook and possible strong yields, which are boosting premium valuations," says Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Financial Services, Geojit. Continued foreign outflows and rising US bond yields are expected to keep the broader indices in bearish territory for the foreseeable future, Nair added. Ajit Mishra, head of technical research at Religare Broking Ltd, said the market remained volatile but ended higher on the back of select heavyweights." The recovery was largely helped by the imminent recovery of heavyweights like Reliance and ITC," Mishra said, adding that monthly expiry of derivative contracts would keep volatility high. In the broader market, the BSE mid-cap index rose 0.76 percent and the small-cap index rose 0.68 percent. Of the indices, capital goods rose by 1.14 percent, healthcare by 1.13 percent, industrials (0.97 percent), FMCG (0.77 percent), real estate (0.70 percent), IT (0.48 percent) and engineering (0.43 percent). Bankex, durables and oil and gas were left behind.
In the Asian market, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong remained with losses. Business in the European market is mostly positive. US markets fell on Tuesday. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.98 percent to $94.88 a barrel.
According to stock market data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth 693.47 billion rubles on Tuesday.