Sensex Extends Rally To Seventh Straight Session, Nifty Hits 10,950

Domestic stock markets extended their gains to a seventh straight session on Wednesday. The S&P BSE Sensex opened at 36,441.46 and the Nifty50 barometer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at 10,930.55. At 10:47 am, the 30-share Sensex traded at 36,457.35, up 110.27 points or 0.30 per cent, and the 50-scrip Nifty was at 10,952.150, with a gain of 43.45 points or 0.40 per cent. Thirty six out of 50 Nifty stocks traded with gains.

Trading between 2.28 per cent and 6.03 per cent higher, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance were the top five Nifty gainers.

Eleven out of 12 PSU bank stocks gained 1.85 per cent in trade.

IT stocks, however, bucked the positive trend to trade 1.35 per cent lower as the rupee gained 50 paise to breach the 70 per dollar-mark in opening trade.

Asian share markets played second string to bonds as a spectacular fall in the price of oil spurred speculation that the US Federal Reserve might be done with tightening after its policy meeting later in the session, reported news agency Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.4 per cent, while Shanghai blue chips were flat.

Japan's Nikkei steadied after an early dip and E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 added 0.4 per cent.
Oil had stolen the show as a supply glut saw Brent shed almost 6 per cent overnight. US crude was last down another 13 cents at $46.11 a barrel, while Brent recouped just 4 cents to $56.30.

On Tuesday, foreign portfolio investors bought net shares worth Rs 144.76 crore, provisional NSE data showed. In the previous session, the Sensex had closed at 36,347.08 and the Noifty50 at 10,908. (With agency inputs)