Sensex, Nifty end higher after sharp recovery in final hour

PTI

New Delhi

Benchmark Sensex recovered from early losses to settle 117 points higher on Wednesday, helped by a rally in Reliance Industries, even as investors remained cautious due to higher crude prices and a weaker rupee.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 117.54 points, or 0.16%, to settle at 75,318.39. The index opened lower and fell by 671.44 points, or 0.89%, to a day's low of 74,529.41. However, buying in oil and gas, financial and auto shares in the last hour helped the index trim losses and rebound around 877 points from the day's low. 

The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 41 points, or 0.17%, to end at 23,659. The barometer moved between a low of 23,397.30 and a high of 23,690.90 during the day. 

From the 30 Sensex firms, Reliance Industries rallied 2.83%. Bajaj Finserv, Trent, InterGlobe Aviation, Axis Bank and Mahindra and Mahindra were also among the winners. Bharat Electronics, Tech Mahindra, Eternal and Tata Steel were among the major laggards. 

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 2% lower at $109 per barrel. 

"Markets recovered from intraday lows, supported by selective buying in large-cap stocks across autos, financials, and oil & gas," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said. Nair added that persistent rupee weakness and elevated crude prices continue to weigh on sentiment due to concerns around inflation and margin pressures, while FII flows remain mixed. 

Broader markets also advanced as the BSE MidCap Select index jumped 1.02% and the SmallCap Select index rose by 0.16%. Among sectoral indices, Power surged the most by 1.78%. 

"The initial weakness in domestic equities was primarily driven by rising global bond yields, elevated crude oil prices, and continued geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the US-Iran conflict," Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.