HDFC Bank, L&T lift Sensex over 300 points higher, Nifty above 24,550

Indian benchmark equity indices, Sensex and Nifty50, traded higher on Wednesday for the fourth consecutive session, supported by gains in index heavyweights HDFC Bank, ITC, and L&T, ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's interest rate decision later in the week.

As of 9:50 am, the BSE Sensex was up by 317 points, or 0.39%, at 81,162.75, while the Nifty50 gained 96.15 points, or 0.39%, trading at 24,550.

L&T, NTPC, ITC, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, and Infosys were the top gainers on the Sensex in early trade, rising between 0.5% and 1%. In contrast, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, and Tata Motors opened lower.


Meanwhile, Asian markets opened lower after South Korea imposed martial law and lifted it hours later. Overnight, most Wall Street equities finished higher, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at record highs.

Among individual stocks, Reliance Power shares opened with a 5% upper circuit after the company announced that Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) has withdrawn its debarment notice with immediate effect.

RVNL shares also opened over 3% higher after the firm received an order worth Rs 187 crore from East Central Railway.

Sector-wise, the Nifty IT index rose 0.8%, led by Tech Mahindra, Wipro, and LTTS. Markets are now pricing in a 72% probability of a 25 basis point rate cut this month, with 80 basis points of cuts expected by the end of next year.

The spotlight now turns to Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday who will give what are expected to be his last public remarks before the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap indices surged around 0.5%, marking their 9th consecutive session of gains.

Experts View

"The signals from the market are a bit confusing. It has ignored the sharp slowdown in Q2 GDP growth. It is remaining resilient despite the massive FII selling. There are many likely headwinds from the Trump presidency. The valuations are elevated with Nifty trading around 20 times estimated FY26 earnings. In this context, investors should adopt a cautious investment strategy with asset allocation as the underlying principle," said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

"Since the market has been resilient amidst challenges, it makes sense to remain invested. Those investors with lower risk appetite can think of moving some money from the overvalued mid and smallcaps to largecaps and also to debt," Vijayakumar added.

Mandar Bhojane, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, "A decisive close above the 24,500 level may pave the way for further gains towards 24,800 and 25,000 in the upcoming sessions. On the downside, support is seen at 24,000 and 23,900, making dips an attractive buying opportunity."

Global Markets

Asian equities stumbled on Wednesday while currencies were volatile as traders scrambled to contend with the political storm in South Korea, where martial law was imposed and subsequently lifted hours later.

The benchmark KOSPI index was down nearly 2%, taking its year-to-date losses to over 7%, making it the worst performing major stock market in Asia this year.

That left the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which counts Samsung Electronics as one of its top constituents, down 0.32% on Wednesday.

FII/DII Tracker

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers, adding equities worth over Rs 3,600 crore on December 3. In contrast, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers, offloading Rs 250.99 crore worth of equities.

Crude Oil

Oil prices were little changed in early Asia trade as market participants weighed higher US crude oil and fuel inventories as well as the likelihood of OPEC+ extending supply cuts.

Brent crude futures fell 2 cents, or 0.03%, to $73.60 a barrel by 0145 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures eased 3 cents, or 0.04%, to $69.91. On Tuesday, Brent posted its biggest gain in two weeks, rising 2.5%.

Currency Watch

The Indian rupee opened flat at Rs 84.68 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, surged 0.11% to 106.48 level.

(With inputs from agencies)