Sensex advances 110 pts in choppy trade, banks gain ahead of RBI policy

Benchmark Sensex advanced 110 points in a choppy trade on Wednesday, extending its gains to the fourth day in a row helped by buying in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and fresh foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share barometer rose by 110.58 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 80,956.33 with 14 of its constituents ending with gains and 16 stocks with losses. During the day, it jumped 399.64 points or 0.49 per cent to 81,245.39 and dipped to a low of 80,630.53.

The NSE Nifty rose marginally by 10.30 points or 0.04 per cent to 24,467.45 as gains in IT, realty and banking shares were offset by profit-taking in auto and FMCG shares.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Titan, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance and ICICI Bank were the biggest gainers.

Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Maruti, ITC, Reliance Industries and UltraTech Cement were among the laggards.

Foreign institutional investors turned buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 3,664.67 crore, according to exchange data.

"The domestic market maintained a positive trajectory, despite some volatility stemming from mixed sentiments in Asian markets due to the situation in South Korea. Broader indices showed strong performance, with the banking and financial sectors continuing to excel.

"The upcoming speech by the FED Chair could sway market sentiments, as recent FED minutes have shown confidence in the easing of inflation," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Analysts said investors exercised caution ahead of the RBI's monetary policy announcement on Friday.

The BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.83 per cent and smallcap index went up by 0.68 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, realty jumped 2.13 per cent, followed by financial services (1.19 per cent), bankex (0.91 per cent), consumer durables (0.69 per cent), industrials (0.59 per cent), capital goods (0.55 per cent), IT (0.52 per cent), Focused IT (0.44 per cent) and healthcare (0.27 per cent).

Telecommunication, utilities, metal, oil & gas and services were among the laggards.

Among Asian markets, Tokyo settled higher while Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower . European markets were trading mostly higher. US markets ended mostly in the positive territory on Tuesday.

India's services PMI slipped to 58.4 in November while employment in the segment recorded robust growth, a monthly survey said on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude firmed up by 0.34 per cent to USD 73.91 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 597.67 points or 0.74 per cent to settle at 80,845.75 on Tuesday. The Nifty went up by 181.10 points or 0.75 per cent to 24,457.15.