Stock market: Sensex rises 115 pts, Nifty above 26,200; Trent, NTPC lead gainers

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty opened on a flat-to-positive note on Wednesday, tracking gains in global markets and buying interest in heavyweight stocks such as Trent, NTPC and Bajaj Finance.

At 9:21 am, the BSE Sensex rose 74.79 points, or 0.09%, to 85,599.63 after gaining nearly 115 points in early trade. The NSE Nifty climbed 31.40 points, or 0.12%, to 26,208.55, after briefly touching a high of 26,217.85.  

Among Sensex constituents, Trent led gainers, rising 1% to Rs 4232. NTPC rose 0.79%, while Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank and BEL gained 0.76%, 0.68% and 0.58%, respectively.

Wall Street ended higher overnight as all three major indices closed the session in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.16% to 48,442.41, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.46% to close at 6,909.79. The tech-savvy Nasdaq Composite edged 0.57% higher to settle at 23,561.84.

Asian markets traded mostly higher on Wednesday. At last check, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.14% to 50,481.42, while South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.17% to 4,124.13. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 0.22% to 25,830.02.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said that as 2025 approaches its close, the market seems to be entering a phase of consolidation, though with a clear upward bias.

Vijayakumar said the strong domestic macros and the supportive earnings growth expectations in Q3 and Q4 of FY26 and for FY27 will provide the fundamental support to the market. 

“The sustained domestic inflows and consistent DII buying will impart resilience to the market. However, since FIIs may sell the rallies, a sharp breakout is unlikely. Also, the revival of the AI trade in US might impact sentiments in favour of a ‘non-AI trade’ in markets like India. The RBI decision to do an additional OMO to the tune of Rs 2 lakh crores will significantly enhance liquidity and bring down yields. This is positive for credit growth and banking stocks. This can be a shot in the arm for banking stocks which are fairly valued,” Vijayakumar added.