Sensex Rebounds After Two Days Of Decline, Nifty Reclaims 11,650

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 Indexes rebounded after two days of declines closing firmer for a seventh consecutive week, as positive global cues added to investor risk appetite a day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) slashed a key lending rate. The Sensex rose as much as 274 points and the NSE Nifty 50 index climbed as much as 92 points. For most part of the day, the benchmarks traded in a rangebound fashion with a positive bias and most of the gains came in the last 30 minutes of trade. Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services contributed over 84 points towards today's gain in the Sensex.

Market sentiment is likely to be governed by upcoming Q4FY19 results as well as impending schedule of elections. We see the earnings revival which commenced from FY19 to continue in FY20 and be a major driver for markets, Teena Virmani, VP -PCG Research at Kotak Securities said.

The Sensex ended 178 points or 0.46 per cent higher at 38,862 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced 68 points to close at 11,666.

Sixteen of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended higher led by the S&P BSE Metal Index's 2 per cent gain. Realty, Basic Materials, Information Technology and Oil & Gas Indexes on the BSE also rose between 0.8-1.6 per cent each.

On the flipside, Power, Utility and FMCG gauges ended lower.

Mid- and small-cap shares witnessed buying interest as the S&P BSE MidCap Index rose 0.63 per cent and the S&P BSE SmallCap Index advanced 0.72 per cent.

Tata Steel was top gainer in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock rose 3.74 per cent to Rs 550.50. UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Hindalco, Vedanta, JSW Steel, Eicher Motors, Indian Oil and Cipla were also among the gainers.

On the other hand, Power Grid, Britannia, Zee Entertainment, State Bank of India, Dr Reddy's Labs and NTPC were among the laggards in Nifty.

(With inputs from Reuters)