Wednesday, the Indian market closed higher on the back of strong global cues, but the gain was modest as investors took profits in the second half of the trading session.
Earlier in the day, strong US housing data and easing concerns about US banks helped the market open sharply higher. As the session progressed, the key benchmarks neared their highest levels in more than a month and traders started unwinding their long positions in index heavyweights.
Investors took profits amid political uncertainty ahead of general elections and a lack of consensus among analysts on the direction of the US markets in the near-term. A report from the International Monetary Fund revising the GDP forecast for India to 5.3% next fiscal year also led to the profit booking.
After moving in a narrow range of 9,120-8,951, the BSE Sensex closed off the day's high at 8,977, up 113 points or 1.27% over the previous close. Meanwhile, the S&P CNX Nifty rose 37 points or 1.35% to 2,795.
Second-line stocks outperformed large-caps. The broad-based BSE 500 index advanced 1.43%, the small-cap index gained 1.80% and the mid-cap index added 2.36%. On the BSE, the market breadth was extremely positive, with advancers outnumbering decliners by 1552 to 930.
DLF, Jaiprakash Associates, Tata Steel, BHEL, Reliance Infrastructure, ICICI Bank, Sterlite Industries, Hindalco, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors and Reliance Industries were the top gainers.
However, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Power, ACC, HDFC and Bharti Airtel ended in negative territory.
Realty stocks led the bounce back amid hopes that lower interest rates and property prices will spur demand. Among the major gainers in this space, Akruti City soared 27.53%, MahindraLife climbed 8.42%, DLF jumped 7.76%, Parsvnath Developers advanced 4.08% and Indiabulls Real Estate added 3.90%.
Metals followed tracking gains in metal prices on the London Metal Exchange. Welspun Gujarat (up 13.78%), Hindustan Zinc (up 5.68%), Steel Authority of India (up 5.19%), Tata Steel (up 4.54%)and Jindal Steel (up 3.72%) were some of the prominent gainers.
Stocks of capital goods, banking, consumer goods and oil/gas also showed handsome gains, but select FMCG stocks like ITC, Tata Tea, Hindustan Unilever and Colgate Palmolive ended in the red.
Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 2.38% as it is expected to start pumping natural gas from its D-6 field off the east coast later this month. According to reports, RIL plans to revive Reliance Global Energy Singapore, its Singapore trading desk to market fuel from its refineries.
