European shares opened higher, with futures for Wall Street’s S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising up to 1 per cent.
Major stock indices Sensex and Nifty rose over 2 per cent on Wednesday led by gains in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC twins as investors watched diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
The 30-share BSE Sensex opened in the green during the day and rose 1,469.64 points, or 2.75 per cent, to 54,893.73. It finally closed at 54,647.33, up 1,223.24 points or 2.29 per cent.
The broader NSE Nifty climbed 331.90 points or 2.07 per cent to end at 16,345.35.
From the 30-share pack, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries Ltd, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank and UltraTech Cement jumped up to 5.56 per cent.
Among the Sensex shares, Asian Paints was the gainer with a gain of 5.56 per cent. Reliance Industries rose 5.24 per cent, Bajaj Finserv 5 per cent and HDFC Bank 3.29 per cent.
In contrast, Power Grid Corporation, NTPC, Tata Steel, Nestle India and Wipro were among the laggards.
Aviation stocks were in high demand in Wednesday’s trade as after a gap of two years, India will resume regular international flights from March 27. Shares of InterGlobe Aviation rose 6.94 per cent and SpiceJet gained 6.05 per cent.
“Domestic indices extended yesterday’s gains after European markets and US futures declined as smart investors saw value in current market valuations.
“Domestic market is also reacting positively in anticipation of exit polls and in-line state election results. In the near term, domestic market will trade according to positive or negative surprises in state election results and global trend.” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
Borrowers in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo closed lower. Stock exchanges in the US closed in negative territory on Tuesday.
European shares opened higher, with futures for Wall Street’s S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising up to 1 per cent.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 1.22 per cent to USD 126.4 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors continued their sell-off in the Indian markets on Tuesday with shares worth Rs 8,142.60 crore selling on a net basis, according to exchange data.