Sensex gains 261 points on value-buying

Benchmarks snapped their two-session losing streak to finish with smart gains on Wednesday, spurred by bargain hunting in recently-battered metal and bank stocks, amid a rebound in the global equities.

The BSE Sensex vaulted almost 261 points to close at 35,547.33, while the broader NSE Nifty climbed 61.60 points to 10,772.05. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries topped the gainers' list in the Sensex pack, spurting 2.44 per cent to a record closing high of ~1,019.95.

Asian and European stocks bounced back, reversing some of their recent losses, following escalating trade tensions between the US and China.

The 30-share Sensex stayed in the green throughout and hit the day's high of 35,571.37 on a flurry of buying. It finally ended at 35,547.33 - up 260.59 points or 0.74 per cent.

The gauge had lost 335.40 points in the previous two sessions, tracking a sell-off across global markets after the US and China reignited their trade dispute. The broader NSE Nifty climbed 61.60 points, or 0.58 per cent, to close at 10,772.05. Intra-day, it shuttled between 10,781.80 and 10,724.05 points.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net ~6.53billion, while FPIs sold equities to the tune of ~13.24 billion on Tuesday, say provisional data.

On Wednesday, FPIs sold shares worth ~24.4 billion, while their domestic counterparts provided buying support to the tune of ~14.7 billion, provisional data provided by stock exchanges showed. So far this month, FPIs have pulled out $1billion from domestic stocks.

“Despite trade tensions, the market traded on a positive note by snapping two days of downtrend on the back of positive global peers. Rupee gained as oil price remained low ahead of the Opec meeting on Friday. Bank Nifty outperformed owing to a slide in 10-year yield after RBI's announcement of open market purchase. The continuing uncertainty on trade tariff is likely to cap gains," said Vinod Nair, Head of

INTRA-DAY TOP 5 MOVERS

RIL 1,020.0 Vedanta 228.8 IndusInd Bank 1,967.5 YES Bank 335.9 KotakMahindra 1,327.8 Bank

ONGC Coal India ITC Wipro L&T

Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Other prominent index gainers included IndusInd Bank 2.27 per cent, Vedanta 2.10 per cent, Yes Bank 1.66 per cent, Kotak Bank 1.58 per cent, Tata Steel 1.52 per cent, HDFC Bank 1.50 per cent and HDFC 1.25 per cent. ONGC fell 1.24 per cent, Coal India 0.92 per cent, ITC 0.90 per cent, Wipro 0.59 per cent, L&T 0.54 per cent and Infosys 0.06 per cent.