Sensex gains 600 pts, Nifty ends above 24,100; markets slip from day’s highs

Indian equities ended higher on Wednesday, although benchmarks trimmed a part of their intraday gains in the final hour of trade.

The BSE Sensex rose 609.45 points, or 0.79%, to close at 77,496.36, while the Nifty 50 gained 181.95 points, or 0.76%, to settle at 24,177.65. Both indices had earlier touched higher levels during the session before witnessing some profit booking.

Autos, FMCG lead; large caps hold firm

The rally was led by large-cap stocks, with autos and select defensives driving gains.

Among Nifty gainers, ITC rose 3.79%, followed by Tech Mahindra (+3.31%), Reliance Industries (+2.96%), Coal India (+2.93%) and Maruti Suzuki (+2.89%).

Other notable gainers included Bharti Airtel , Tata Consumer Products and Mahindra & Mahindra , reflecting broad participation across sectors.

Among laggards, IndiGo fell 2.31%, while Dr. Reddy's Laboratories declined 1.99% and NTPC slipped 1.66%. Losses were also seen in Bajaj Finserv , ICICI Bank and Trent , indicating some profit booking across select financial and consumption names.

Banks support, IT rebounds; broader markets underperform

Financials provided stability to the market, with banking stocks lending support after recent pressure.

IT stocks saw a mild recovery, with Tech Mahindra leading gains, even as the broader sector remains under pressure following last week’s sharp correction.

Sectorally, Nifty FMCG rose 1.75%, Nifty Auto gained 1.15%, and Nifty Metal added 0.50%, while Nifty IT edged up 0.99%.

However, the broader market showed signs of fatigue. Midcap and smallcap indices underperformed, with select pockets seeing mild declines, indicating a more large-cap-driven rally.

Asian cues firm; oil remains elevated

Global cues remained supportive, with key Asian markets including Japan’s Nikkei 225, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and South Korea’s KOSPI ending higher.

Meanwhile, Brent crude surged nearly 3% to touch $115 per barrel, keeping concerns around inflation and input costs in focus. Despite a strong start, markets witnessed profit booking in the latter half of the session, pulling indices off their intraday highs.

Volatility cooled from the previous session but rose from the day’s lower levels. India VIX ended 3.38% lower at 17.44, after slipping to an intraday low of 16.75 earlier in the session, indicating that while market fear eased on a closing basis, traders turned relatively cautious as benchmarks gave up part of their gains near the close.