Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices moved in a narrow range amid cautious mood on Wednesday but traded in the green with an uptick in auto and metal stocks.
The BSE S&P Sensex closed 125 points or 0.3 percent higher at 37,271 while the Nifty 50 moved up by 33 points to 11,036.
Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were in the green except for Nifty IT which slipped by 1.37 percent and FMCG which was down by 0.3 percent.
Nifty realty was up by 4.1 percent while PSU bank gained by 3.1 percent. Nifty auto gained by 3.6 percent, a day after Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will soon respond to the demands of the automobile sector, which is facing the worst slump in more than two decades. Consequently, Nifty metal too was up by 2.3 percent.
Among stocks, Yes Bank was a star performer clocking gains of 13 percent to close at Rs 71.30 per share following reports that its shareholding structure may undergo a major churn by the year-end.
Its founder Rana Kapoor has reportedly initiated talks to sell a part of his holding to One97 Communications Ltd, the parent of Paytm and Paytm Payments Bank. Kapoor and his family offices hold 10.6 percent stake in Yes Bank.
Auto stocks were on a high, hoping for a cut in Goods and Services Tax on vehicles to revive sales during the crucial festive season. Tata Motors accelerated by 10.6 percent to close at Rs 134.90 per share. Eicher Motors was up by 5.1 percent, Maruti by 3.8 percent and Bajaj Auto by 2.8 percent.
Metal stocks too witnessed handsome gains with JSW Steel edging higher by 3.7 percent, Tata Steel by 3.6 percent and Vedanta by 3.3 percent.
However, IT stocks were in the red with Wipro sliding by 2.9 percent and HCL Technologies by 2.7 percent. The other prominent losers were ONGC, GAIL, NTPC, Coal India, Power Grid, Zee Entertainment, and Sun Pharma.
Meanwhile, Asian stock markets held firm as hopes of diminishing US-China tensions and reduced risk of no-deal Brexit prompted investors to take profit ahead of key central bank policy meetings around the globe.
Japan’s Nikkei rose by 0.96 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng by 1.78 percent and South Korea’s KOSPI Index by 0.84 percent. But China’s Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.41 percent lower.