Sensex ends Samvat 2074, 7 pc higher

Benchmark indices ended a highly volatile session in the green Tuesday on firm Asian cues, ending the Samvat year 2074 higher by over 7 per cent.

The benchmark Sensex has gained 2,407.56 points, or 7 per cent, in the Hindu Samvat year 2074, while the broader NSE Nifty rose by 319.15 points, or over 3 per cent.

In Tuesday's session, the Sensex commenced higher at 35,076.24 points and continued its upward march to hit a high of 35,196.03. However, profit-booking in the last one hour of trading, in line with losses in European markets, wiped-off most Sensex gains as it hit a low of 34,889.72 and settled at 34,991.91 points, up 40.99 points or 0.12 per cent.

The gauge had lost over 60 points Monday.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty, after shuttling between 10,600.25 and 10,491.45 points, ended the last session of Samvat 2074 with a rise of 6 points, or 0.06 per cent, to end at 10,530.

Investors adopted a cautious approach in the last session of Samvat year 2074 ahead of a long Diwali break, and kept their positions restricted.

According to analysts, market pared initial gains as investors were in a holiday mood. Receding optimism on US-China trade deal also impacted global market momentum.

However, stock-specific buying was seen on the basis of quarter results and drop in oil prices. The market is gradually factoring downgrade in earnings in H2FY19 while investors is giving focus on US Fed policy and CPI inflation, they added.

Momentum also turned weak ahead of the US mid-term elections, the first major electoral test of President Donald Trump's big tax cuts and hostile trade policies.

TCS emerged as the best performer among Sensex constituents, rising 2.22 per cent, followed by Yes Bank gaining 1.95 per cent.

Other gainers included Tata Motors, RIL, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, Vedanta, ICICI Bank, Coal India, ONGC, L&T, Infosys, HDFC, NTPC and M&M, rising up to 1.69 per cent.

Bucking the trend, state-run SBI suffered the most by falling 2.98 per cent, while Axis Bank lost 2.67 per cent.

Maruti Suzuki, IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, ITC, HUL, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp and HDFC Bank too ended lower and lost up to 1.31 per cent.

Sectorally, the BSE teck index took the top position by rising 1.03 per cent, followed by IT gaining 0.99 per cent, realty (0.40 per cent) and infrastructure (0.17 per cent).

However, consumer durables, metal, FMCG, PSU, oil & gas, auto, bankex, healthcare and power ended in the negative zone, falling up to 1.79 per cent.

Broader markets depicted a weak trend with the midcap index falling 0.75 per cent, while smallcap index shed 0.19 per cent.

Exchanges will conduct a special 'Muhurat trading' session Wednesday between 1700 and 1830 hours on the occasion of Diwali.

The markets will remain closed on Thursday for "Diwali Belipratipada'.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei was up 1.14 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI Index rose 0.61 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.82 per cent. Shanghai Composite index, however, fell 0.23 per cent.

Key indices in Europe such as Paris CAC fell 0.22 per cent, while Frankfurt's DAX shed 0.13 per cent in the late morning deals. London's FTSE also slipped 0.21 per cent.