Market Wrap, March 19: Indices rise for 3rd day, NIFTY50 ends above 22,900, SENSEX up 148 points; broader market outperforms

The Indian stock market on Wednesday, March 19, extended gains for the third straight session and settled in positive territory amid a strong rally in the broader market and heavy buying in the banking and financial sectors.

The broader index NIFTY50 closed the session at a one-month high above 22,900 levels, while SENSEX held its 75,000 mark. Market investors are waiting for the US Federal Reserve’s rate decision for further guidance.

At close, the S&P BSE SENSEX settled at 75,449.05, rising 147.79 points, or 0.20%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index closed 73.30 points, or 0.32%, higher at the 22,907.60 level.

Both the midcap and smallcap gauges surged over 2% on Wednesday.

Investors also showed interest in the steel, defence and sugar counters as these sectoral stocks rallied positively during the session.

According to NSE’s data, the market sentiment remained in favour of bulls as 2,345 scrips advanced out of 2,990 stocks traded on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, after a long break, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers on Tuesday, putting ₹694.57 crore in the domestic stock market, which witnessed a stellar rally after remaining subdued or in negative territory for multiple sessions.

Globally, Asian shares were mixed Wednesday as all eyes are on the interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2% to 37,900.88 after its central bank decided to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained marginally by 0.2% to 24,777.01, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, rising less than 0.1% to 3,427.76.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.3% to 7,836.80, while South Korea's Kospi gained 0.9% to 2,634.60.

Wall Street snapped a two-day rally to close 1% lower on Tuesday as a tech sell-off intensified the losses. Market participants remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision scheduled to be released today.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 260.32 points, or 0.62%, to 41,581.31, the S&P 500 lost 60.46 points, or 1.07%, to 5,614.66, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 304.55 points, or 1.71%, to 17,504.12.

As many as 2,990 stocks traded on the NSE on Wednesday. Out of this, 2,345 advanced, and only 568 stocks declined, while 77 scrips remained unchanged.

A total of 42 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 89 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 244 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 43 touched their lower circuit bands on Wednesday.

At the end of the session, the volatility index India VIX stood at 13.30 levels, rising 0.66%.

The broader market continued with its rally and outperformed the main equity benchmark indices on Wednesday. The Nifty Midcap 100 soared 2.63% to settle at the 50,817.10 level, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 advanced by 2.43% to the 15,747.60 level.

As many as 31 stocks on the NIFTY50 index traded in the green, while 19 closed in the negative territory. The biggest contributing stocks on the index were Shriram Finance, HDFC Life, Apollo Hospitals, Tata Steel and Power Grid, rising as much as 3.91%.

On the flip side, the top five losers were Tech Mahindra, ITC, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Sun Pharma, tumbling as much as 2.32% on the 50-share index.

Except for Nifty IT (-1.08%) and Nifty FMCG (-0.55%), all the other sectoral gauges closed in green. Among them, Nifty Midsmall Financial Services (3.17%), Nifty Realty (2.80%), Nifty Midsmall Healthcare (2.11%), Nifty Financial Services Ex-Bank (2%) and Nifty PSU Bank (1.98%) were the most gaining ones.

During the intraday trade, Jio Financial shares were trading at ₹230.70, gaining 2.45% on the National Stock Exchange. The stock settled at ₹228.10 per share, rising 1.30%.

The stock climbed 10.40% to ₹1,038.45 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) during the early trades. The scrip settled at ₹1,008.00 apiece, gaining 7.16%.