Sensex rises over 300 points, Nifty trades near 20,000; Torrent Pharma, Adani Total jump up to 17%

Indian equity benchmarks traded higher in Wednesday's early trade, led by gains across all sectors. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack rose 319 points or 0.48 per cent to trade at 66,493, while the NSE Nifty moved 104 points or 0.52 per cent up to trade at 19,994. Broader market (mid- and small-cap) shares were positive as Nifty Midcap 100 climbed 0.72 per cent and small-cap gained 0.41 per cent.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading on a mixed note. Overnight, Wall Street equities rose after US Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller flagged the possibility of lowering the interest rate in the months ahead if inflation continued to come down.

Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 784 crore during the previous session on a net basis and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 1,325 crore.

Today, all 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty IT and Nifty Oil & Gas were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 1.25 per cent and 0.69 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Nifty pack as the stock jumped 2.54 per cent to trade at Rs 1,232.9. Wipro, LTI Mindtree, Bharti Airtel and HCL Tech gained up to 1.88 per cent.

In contrast, Coal India, BPCL, PowerGrid, ONGC and NTPC were among the top laggards.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,984 shares were advancing while 879 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, index heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Infosys and TCS were among the top gainers.

Also, Adani Total Gas, Torrent Pharma, Aster DM Healthcare, Adani Energy Solutions and IFCI surged up to 17.10 per cent. On the flipside, Texmaco Rail, Gateway Distriparks, Aether Industries and Raymond slipped up to 6.42 per cent.

Nifty outlook

"Nifty has stepped closer to the 19,960-20,100 objectives. Downside marker may be pushed higher to 19,875, the breakout point of the ascending triangle. In the event of reversals past the same, the prospects of 19,591, the 50-DMA looks very low, with 19,800/19,750 looking firm enough to lend support," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Also read: Zomato shares up 2% amid block deal; stock logs Rs 3,360 cr turnover; Alipay likely seller

Also read: Top 10 stocks to watch on November 29 2023: Tata Power, BHEL, ICICI Lombard, Global Health, Wipro and more

Also read: Stock recommendations for November 29, 2023: HCL Tech, Max Financial Services and Praj Industries