Sensex rises for 3rd day, Nifty ends above 22,900 on fresh FII buying

Mumbai, Mar 19 (PTI) Stock markets closed higher for the third straight day on Wednesday driven by fresh FII buying and gains in consumer durables, capital goods and realty shares ahead of the key US Fed policy to be announced later in the day.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 147.79 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 75,449.05. During the day, it advanced 267.12 points or 0.35 per cent to 75,568.38.

The NSE Nifty rose 73.30 points or 0.32 per cent to 22,907.60.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, Zomato, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports, NTPC, State Bank of India and Reliance Industries were among the major gainers.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Maruti, HCL Tech, and Nestle were among the laggards.

"The domestic market continued its positive momentum, as part of the recent correction was justified by valuation. The sustainability of the relief rally depends on a revival in fundamentals. The recovery was broad-based, while metal stocks gained attention after the government decided to impose a tax on steel imports.

"In light of trade uncertainties and growth concerns, today's FED policy and the commentary will be keenly watched by investors to get cues on interest rates," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said Key factors driving the market include FII buying and softness in the US dollar index, Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.

The BSE midcap gauge jumped 2.28 per cent and smallcap index climbed 2.17 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty surged 2.75 per cent, industrials (2.55 per cent), services (2.48 per cent), power (2.30 per cent), utilities (2.16 per cent), telecommunication (1.48 per cent) and commodities (1.44 per cent).

BSE Focused IT, IT, teck and FMCG were the laggards.

As many as 3,018 stocks advanced while 1,033 declined and 115 remained unchanged on the BSE.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory, while Tokyo and Shanghai ended lower.

European markets were trading on a mixed note. US markets ended in the negative zone on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 694.57 crore, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) also bought equities worth Rs 2,534.75 crore.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.78 per cent to USD 70.01 a barrel.

On Tuesday, the Sensex jumped 1,131.31 points or 1.53 per cent to settle at 75,301.26. The Nifty surged 325.55 points or 1.45 per cent to 22,834.30. PTI SUM MR

Source: PTI