Sensex jumps 346 points, Nifty settles at 17,081; Suzlon, NBCC & Adani Enterprises surge up to 12%

Indian equity benchmarks on Wednesday settled higher in a volatile trading session, led by gains in state-owned lenders, metals, automobiles and technology stocks. The domestic indices climbed today in line with the global markets amid easing worries over the global banking turmoil and a rebound in Adani Group stocks. Most Asian shares settled higher. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack jumped 346 points or 0.60 per cent to close at 57,960; while the broader NSE Nifty index moved 129 points or 0.76 per cent higher to settle at 17,081 on March derivatives series expiry day. Mid and smallcap shares finished on a strong note, with the Nifty Midcap 100 up 1.54 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 1.73 per cent. Fear index India VIX dived 9.75 per cent to 13.63.

"The domestic market is being impelled to stay non-sticky in both directions by the continuous instability in the international market. The favourable ending was supported by a significant upswing in both the US and European markets. This volatility is expected to continue until the global banking system gets fully recovered from the turmoil, along with a confirmation of the Fed's decision to pause rate hikes," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Buying interest in select index heavyweights such as HDFC twins (HDFC Bank and HDFC), Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys also lifted the indices higher.

14 out of the 15 sectoral indices on NSE settled in the green. Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Metal, Nifty Auto and Nifty IT outperformed the index by rising 3.22 per cent, 2.44 per cent, 1.71 per cent and 1.11 per cent, respectively.

"Volume profile indicates index has strong support around Rs 1,7000-16,900 zone. Coming to the open interest (OI) data, the highest OI was observed at 17,200 followed by 17,300 strike prices on the call side. While on the put side, the highest OI is at a 17,000-strike price. On the other hand, Bank Nifty has support at 39,300-39,500 while resistance is placed at the 40,300-40,500 range," said Deven Mehata, Equity Research Analyst at Choice Broking.

Suzlon, NBCC and Cochin Shipyards zoomed up to 12.29 per cent. UCO Bank India settled 8.92 per cent higher; while Raymond soared 7.93 per cent. Praj Industries and Union Bank rose up to 7.83 per cent. Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of India and Central Bank of India jumped up to 7.32 per cent.

Three Adani Group stocks staged a sharp rebound today after issuing clarification over 'The Ken' report and calling it "a false narrative". Flagship entity Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Adani Wilmar settled up to 8.75 per cent higher.

On the flip side, Brightcom Group crashed 20 per cent today. Sheela Foam, Symphony, Procter & Gamble Health and SIS slipped up to 7.45 per cent. Also, Medplus Health Services, Adani Green Energy and Adani Total Gas fell up to 4.50 per cent.

Out of a total of 3,636 stocks that traded during the day, 2,173 settled with gains while 1,345 others ended lower. The rest 118 stocks stayed unchanged.

The indices would be closed on Thursday on account of Ram Navami.

Also read: NTPC shares end in green on agreement to supply renewable power to Greenko's ammonia plant 

Also read: IndusInd Bank shares: Despite high promoter pledge, here are four triggers for a 50% upside