Mumbai: Market today shrugged off a widely expected US interest rate hike as the benchmark Sensex bounced 183 points to close at 26,698, with auto, IT, oil and gas shares keeping up the momentum. At the close, Nifty retook the key 8,200-mark, driven by gains in RIL and ONGC stocks. Consumer price index-based retail inflation is scheduled for release on Tuesday.
Buying picked up after Asian stocks recovered from early bouts of weakness to end higher ahead of the start of a two-day US Federal Reserve meeting, which is due to start later on Tuesday. The rate-setting panel is widely expected to hike its key interest rate after a two-day meeting that begins later on Tuesday.
After a positive start, the Sensex hit a low of 26,494.23 as investors locked in gains. It surged to a high of 26,724.97 before settling at 26,697.82, up 182.58 points or 0.69 per cent. The gauge had lost 231.94 points in the previous session. The 50-share NSE Nifty closed higher by 51 points, or 0.62 per cent, at 8,221.80. Intra-day, it hovered between 8,228.85 and 8,155.80.
From Sensex and Nifty constituents, Tata Motors emerged as the top gainer by rising as much as 3.48 per cent to close at Rs 470.35 on the BSE on talks of block deals in the counter at an up to 10 per cent premium to Monday's close. Other prominent gainers included Adani Ports, Axis Bank, Wipro, RIL, L&T and Sun Pharma.
In line with the broader trend, shares of state-run oil marketing companies such as BPCL, HPCL and IOC staged a comeback to close higher by up to 2.53 per cent after yesterday's steep fall due to a jump in global crude. Sectorwise, BSE auto index climbed the most by rising 0.98 per cent, followed by IT (0.85 per cent) and oil and gas (0.81 per cent).
The broader markets, however, suffered as investors booked profit by liquidating their bets. The BSE mid-cap index fell 0.43 per cent while mid-cap shed 0.07 per cent. Meanwhile, foreign funds sold shares net worth Rs 94.45 crore yesterday, as per the provisional data. Overseas, Asian markets ended higher ahead of the US Fed two-day policy meeting while European shares were down in their late morning trade.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei ended at its highest level for the year by gaining 0.50 per cent. Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.07 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.06 per cent.
Indices in Europe such as France, Germany and the UK were quoting lower between 0.07 per cent and 0.92 per cent. Back home, of the 30-share Sensex, 21 scrips ended higher. However, GAIL fell by 1.34 per cent followed by Tata Steel 0.79 per cent, Lupin 0.71 per cent and Hindustan Unilever 0.41 per cent.
