Sensex ends 323 pts higher, Nifty above 8600

The BSE Sensex on Wednesday ended at 28,504, stronger by 322 points or 1% and the Nifty settled comfortably above the 8,600 mark at 8,633, up 104 points.

The market breadth was strong with BSE midcap index rising 1.3 per cent and smallcap index advancing nearly 0.90 per cent.

Some profit-taking was seen in IT stocks after their strong gains on Tuesday. Infosys, which surged over 11 per cent on Tuesday, ended 0.90 per cent lower while TCS fell 1.3 per cent.

Supreme Petrochem, a Mumbai-based petrochemicals company, posted an over 8-fold jump in net profit for its fourth quarter to Rs 63.4 crore, as against Rs 7.7 crore for the corresponding period a year ago thus taking the stock  through a 20 per cent on Wednesday to hit a 52-week high of Rs 114.4.

PVR shares up around 6 per cent on strong Q1 performance. Ajay Bijli, CMD of PVR, attributed the strong Q1 performance to higher occupancy, higher ticket rates and good content that helped to attract more viewers.

Cairn India shares fell over 3 per cent hitting a year-low of Rs 156.60, after it reported a 24 per cent year-on-year drop in consolidated net profit for the first quarter.

Hindustan Unilever, which shed about 2 per cent post its Q1 numbers on Tuesday,  gained 2 per cent during the day.

In terms of sectoral indices the CNX Energy Index surged 221 pts to 9,025 with the Bank Nifty rising 310 pts at 19,033 points. Meanwhile the CNX FMCG Index was up 190 at 20,333 points with the CNX Auto Index up 116 at 8,555 points and CNX Pharma Index gaining 115 at 12,371 points.

Sun Pharma, which recorded its biggest single-day decline of 15 per cent in the previous session due to a bleak profit warning, rebounded by 3 per cent.