Indian shares ended Wednesday's trading session with record closing highs led by sharp buying in private banks. The BSE Sensex jumped 409 points, or 0.55%, to end at 74,086, while the NSE Nifty50 surged 118 points, or 0.53%, to close at 22,474. The midcap ended half a percent lower, settling at 48,857 amid a correction in broader markets. The banking gauge, Bank Nifty, surged 384 points, or 0.81%, to end at 47,965.
Among Sensex firms, Kotak Mahindra Bank rose the most by 2.47%. Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, HCL Technologies, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan and Tata Consultancy Services were among the major gainers. UltraTech Cement, NTPC, Maruti, JSW Steel, Power Grid and Tata Motors were among the laggards.
Shares of banking stocks emerged as the top gainers on the Nifty 50, with Kotak Mahindra Bank up 2.7%, followed by shares of Axis Bank and ICICI Bank, which rose 2.4% and 1.7%, respectively. The gains came amid the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) action against IIFL Finance and JM Financial's subsidiary, JM Financial Products, which prompted investors to seek safer lending options compared with non-banking financial companies.
Shares of non-banking financial companies fell today after the RBI placed restrictions on two companies—IIFL Finance and JM Financial's subsidiary, JM Financial Products.
Shares of Aditya Birla Capital and L&T Finance Holdings fell 10% each to a one-month low of ₹172.80 and to a two-month low of ₹155, respectively. Both stocks were the worst hit in the Nifty 200 index today. Meanwhile, shares of Manappuram Finance also fell 9.5% to a one-month low, while those of Capri Global Capital fell 8.5% today.
Shares of Mahanagar Gas fell as much as 16% on Wednesday after brokerage firm Citi downgraded the stock to "sell" from its earlier rating of "buy." It also cut its price target on the stock to ₹1,405 from ₹1,480 earlier.
The rupee appreciated 7 paise to settle at 82.83 (provisional) against the US dollar, buoyed by a weak American currency against major rivals overseas and a rally in domestic equities. The INR opened at 82.90 and oscillated between the peak of 82.82 and the lowest level of 82.91 against the greenback during intra-day deals. On Tuesday, the rupee settled flat at 82.90 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth ₹2,766.75 crore and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth ₹2,149.88 crore in equities today, as per provisional data available on exchanges.
In Asian markets, most benchmark equity indices settled higher, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng outperforming its peers and closing 1.7% higher. Japan's Nikkei ended flat, while Topix closed 0.4% higher. Taiwan's TWII closed 0.4% higher. China's CSI 300 closed 0.4% lower and South Korea's Kospi closed 0.3% lower.
First Published: Mar 6, 2024 3:47 PM IST
