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| Photo Credit: Paul Noronha
Equity benchmark indices closed higher on August 9, helped by fag-end buying in index majors Reliance Industries, ITC and M&M amid a positive start in European markets.
Cautious trade prevailed in the markets for the most part of the day ahead of two major events — RBI’s monetary policy and the U.S. inflation data — due to be announced on Thursday.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 149.31 points or 0.23% to settle at 65,995.81. During the day, it fell by 402.12 points or 0.61% to 65,444.38. The benchmark also touched a high of 66,066.01.
The NSE Nifty gained 61.70 points or 0.32% to end at 19,632.55.
JSW Steel was the biggest gainer on the Sensex chart, rising 2.68%, followed by Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Titan, ITC, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro.
In contrast, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, Asian Paints and Axis Bank were major laggards.
In Asian markets, Tokyo and Shanghai settled lower, while Seoul and Hong Kong ended in the green.
European markets were trading in positive territory. The U.S. markets ended in the negative territory in overnight trade on Tuesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹711.34 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.79% to $86.85 a barrel.
The rupee appreciated by 5 paise to settle at 82.86 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday.
The BSE benchmark fell 106.98 points or 0.16% to settle at 65,846.50 on Tuesday. The Nifty slipped 26.45 points or 0.13% to end at 19,570.85.