In a session marked by selective buying, India’s stock market closed higher on Wednesday, with consumer durables and energy sectors spearheading the advance. The BSE Sensex eked out a gain of 78.56 points or 0.09% to 83,817.69, while NSE’s Nifty notched up 48.45 points or 0.19% at 25,776.
Top sectoral performers included Nifty Consumer Durables (+2.66%), Oil & Gas (+2.08%), Energy (+2%), Commodities (+1.90%), PSE (+1.60%), Infra (+1.57%), and Consumption (+1.41%). These gains highlighted investor bets on economic recovery plays.
IT sector buckled under pressure, dropping 5.87%, alongside declines in India Defence (0.77%), Services (0.42%), and Pharma (0.34%).
Mid and smallcaps showed greater resilience, with Nifty Midcap 100 up 376.50 points (0.63%) to 59,683.60 and Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 216.15 points (1.27%) to 17,205.10.
Gainers in the Sensex pack were Eternal, Trent, NTPC, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Maruti Suzuki, Titan, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, M&M, L&T, Tata Steel, ITC, and HDFC Bank. IT bellwethers Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra dragged the index, joined by Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
SBI Securities’ Sudeep Shah observed a tepid Nifty open, followed by consolidation in a tight range, ending with a 0.19% uptick at 25,776. IT’s sharp fall was linked to US AI player Anthropic’s launch of a legal tool for its cloud AI chatbot, stoking competition fears in software services.
Technically, Nifty faces hurdles at 25,950-26,000; a breach could target 26,200. Supports are pegged at 25,600-25,550. Traders remain vigilant, balancing domestic strengths against tech vulnerabilities and international influences.