US rate hike? Sensex ignores it for 2nd day, rises 170 points

Mumbai: Firm buying in late afternoon helped Indian shares to record gains for a second straight session Tuesday as domestic investors shrugged off a widely anticipated US rate hike while defensive buying in oil counters offset selling in banking stocks.

Market benchmark Sensex ended 170 points up at 25,320.44 while the broader Nifty reclaimed the crucial 7,700-level ahead of the start of a two-day US Federal Reserve meeting, where the central bank is likely to raise interest rate for the first time in nearly a decade.

Sentiment also took a turn for the better with firm European stocks, brokers said.

"We have seen a defensive buying in the market just before the Fed meet. We feel the market has already factored in the rate hike expectations of a 25-basis point," said Vinod Nair, Head Fundamental Research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial.

Opening in green despite mixed Asian cues, the key indices went into sluggish mode on continued deadlock over the GST bill and rising November retail inflation to 5.41 percent.

Later, investor sentiment perked up on a positive opening in Europe on slight recovery in oil prices as bouts of value-buying in consumer durables, auto, energy, FMCG, realty, industrial and healthcare sectors supported the rise.

The 30-share Sensex settled at 25,320.44, showing a gainof 170.09 points or 0.68 percent over its previous close.

The broader NSE Nifty reclaimed the key 7,700-mark to end at 7,700.90, up 50.85 points or 0.66 percent.

From Sensex constituents, RIL ended 2.14 percent higher and ONGC rose 2.06 percent, supported by a rebound in global crude oil prices from near 11-year lows.

Among other gainers, Lupin surged 2.44 percent, HUL rose 2.28 percent and Tata Motors gained 2.04 percent.

The broader markets too remained firm as investors indulged in widening bets and the BSE small-cap index rose 0.69 percent and while mid-cap gained 0.56 percent.

On the other side of the spectrum, ICICI Bank dropped 1.04 percent, while SBI rolled down by 0.18 percent.

Sectorwise, BSE consumer durable index gained the most by rising 1.50 percent, followed by auto (1.31 percent), FMCG (1.05 percent), realty (0.93 percent), oil&gas (0.73 percent), capital goods (0.50 percent) and healthcare (0.43 percent).

Overseas, Asian markets ended mixed amid caution ahead of highly anticipated US Federal meeting while European shares rose from losses in the previous session led by gains in stocks of financial firms, automakers and commodity producers.

Key indices in Asia, China, Hong Kong and Japan moved down by 0.17 percent to 1.68 percent while Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan moved up by 0.02 percent to 0.41 percent.

Indices in Europe such as France, Germany and the UK were quoting higher between 1.65 percent and 2.27 percent.

Back home, of the 30-share Sensex, 16 scrips ended higher.

Other major gainers were Tata Motors (2.04 percent), HDFC (1.38 percent), Maruti (1.11 percent), Bajaj Auto (1.07 percent), Hero MotoCorp (1.04 percent), Axis Bank (1.03 percent) and ITC (0.84 percent).

However, Wipro fell by 1.53 percent followed by NTPC 1.17 percent, ICICI Bank 1.04 percent, GAIL 0.78 percent, Vedanta 0.77 percent, Coal India 0.70 percent and Dr Reddy's 0.59 percent.

Among BSE sectoral and industry indices, consumer durables rose by 1.50 percent, followed by auto 1.31 percent, energy 1.24 percent, FMCG 1.05 percent, realty 0.93 percent, industrials 0.87 percent, oil&gas 0.73 percent and finance 0.45 percent, while telecom fell by 0.22 percent, followed by metal 0.22 percent, utilities by 0.06 percent and teck by 0.06 percent.

The market breadth remained negative as 1,584 stocks ended lower, 1,062 closed higher while 203 ruled steady. The total turnover rose to about Rs 2,572.26 crore from Rs 2,424.96 crore yesterday.