The benchmark BSE Sensex bounced back on Wednesday, after a day’s decline, rallying over 151 points before closing at nearly a two-week high of 28,223.08, powered by gains in IT, FMCG and realty.
The Nifty too rallied, which surged 51 points amid sustained fund inflows.
Sentiment improved after a survey showed that services sector is back on the growth track in July, after two straight months of contraction, as new orders surged and hiring picked up to hit a two-year high.
Better-than-expected earnings by Bharti Airtel and Britannia helped, brokers said.
The 30-share BSE index opened on a firm footing before touching the day’s high of 28,315.71, driven by bargain hunting by investors in beaten-down stocks.
But profit-booking at improved levels capped early gains as the benchmark finally settled higher by 151.15 points, or 0.54 per cent, at 28,223.08, its highest closing since July 23.
In four straight trading sessions (July 29, 30, 31 and August 3), the barometer had risen 727.83 points supported by the government’s plans to inject fresh capital into state-owned lenders by September and EPFO getting ready to invest in equity markets.
The 50-share NSE Nifty recovered 51.05 points, or 0.60 per cent, to close at 8,567.95 after shuttling between 8,591.85 and 8,545.85 intra-day. It had lost 26.15 points.
The recovery in the Sensex and the Nifty was supported by gains in IT stocks, which rose on the back of a strong US dollar, at a four-month high, on growing expectations of a rate hike by the US fed. Wipro climbed 2.94 per cent while Infosys was up 2.52 per cent.
Other blue-chips such as Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel, Lupin, M&M and Hero MotoCorp, among others, advanced.
Bharti Airtel ticked up 0.77 per cent after the company posted a nearly 40 per cent growth in consolidated net profit for the June quarter.
Nestle is back in the limelight, up 7.53 per cent, after the FSSAI-approved laboratory found Maggi noodles in compliance with safety standards.
Adani Enterprises went up on reports of a possible JV with Foxconn.
The broader markets shone as the BSE small-cap and mid-cap indices rose up to 0.96 per cent.
