Sensex snaps 9-day losing run, rebounds over 400 points

Mumbai: Breaking its nine-day losing streak, the BSE Sensex zoomed 404 points Wednesday while the NSE Nifty reclaimed the 10,700 mark, propelled by gains in metal, IT and banking stocks amid positive global cues.

The 30-share Sensex settled 403.65 points, or 1.14 per cent higher at 35,756.26. The broader NSE Nifty soared 131.10 points, or 1.24 per cent, to 10,735.45. In the past nine sessions, the Sensex had lost 1,622.62 points, while the Nifty cracked 465.05 points over eight sessions.

Vedanta was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack on Wednesday, rallying 4.67 per cent. Other gainers included Tata Steel, ONGC, NTPC, Yes Bank, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Bajaj Finance, L&T and RIL, rising up to 4.13 per cent. On the other hand, Hero MotoCorp, HUL, M&M, Bajaj Auto and IndusInd Bank fell up to 0.56 per cent.

"The market continues to fight the wall of worry, and bulls appear to be unwilling to give up the fight, as Indian equities had a strong day, up 1.3 per cent," said Sunil Sharma, Chief Investment Officer, Sanctum Wealth Management.

Commodities and metals led the gains, alongside IT and energy, as investors are expecting a favourable outcome of the US-China trade talks, he added.

Sectorally, the BSE metal index gained the most, surging 2.99 per cent, followed by oil and gas, IT, telecom and bankex. Meanwhile, broader indices too ended in the green, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap rising up to 0.91 per cent.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,163.85 crore, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 813.76 crore on Tuesday, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Global markets spurted on hopes of a positive outcome of the ongoing US-China trade negotiations. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the negotiations were going very well, but refrained from committing any extension of the March 1 deadline to arrive at an understanding.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.01 per cent, Korea's Kospi rose 1.09 per cent, Japan's Nikkei ended 0.60 per cent higher and Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.20 per cent.

In the Eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX was up 0.40 per cent, Paris CAC 40 rose 0.09 per cent, and London's FTSE was up 0.05 per cent in early deals.

The benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.44 per cent to USD 66.16 per barrel. Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 26 paise to 71.08 against the US dollar intra-day.