By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets opened in the red Wednesday, witnessed choppy trade but recovered in the second half to close in the green, thanks partly to the depreciating rupee, which was quoted at 42.63 per dollar.
The serial blasts in Jaipur failed to dampen market enthusiasm. The rally was supported by technology, metals, telecom, realty and capital goods scrips.
All sectoral indices, barring public sector undertakings, banking and FMCG ended in the green zone.
Both Sensex and Nifty indices briefly managed to breach the 17,000 and 5,000 mark respectively during the day. While sensex closed below the 17,000 mark, Nifty closed slightly above the 5,000 mark.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 16,691.30 points and notched a high of 17,014.94 before closing at 16,978.35. It gained 225.49 points or 1.35 percent from Tuesday’s close.
The S&P CNX Nifty index on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), which opened at 4,958.45 points, closed at 5,011.75 after touching the day’s high at 5,026.10 points. At close, it registered a gain of 53.95 points or 1.09 percent.
The BSE Midcap index, which closed at 6,989.81 points, gained 33.00 points or 0.47 percent.
Similarly, the BSE Smallcap index, which closed at 8,434.49 points, gained 36.78 points or 0.44 percent.
On BSE, the market breadth was healthy. A total of 1,425 shares advanced, 1,239 declined and 86 remained unchanged.
The top gainers of the day included TCS at Rs.969.95, up 7.09 percent; Hindalco at Rs.192.30, up 6.86 percent; Infosys at Rs.1826.30, up 4.53 percent; and Tata Steel at Rs.886.35, up 4.12 percent.
The top losers included ONGC at Rs.938.80, down 5.85 percent; ACC at Rs.667.30, down 2.30 percent; Ambuja Cements at Rs.109.40, down 1.93 percent and Mahindra & Mahindra at Rs.656.15, down 1.58 percent.