Sensex Rises 267 Points, Nifty Gains for 5th Day

Mumbai, May 22 (PTI) Benchmark Sensex advanced 267 points while Nifty closed higher for the fifth day in a row on Wednesday amid buying in bluechips Reliance Industries and Infosys amid mixed cues from global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 267.75 points or 0.36 per cent to settle at 74,221.06. During the day, it jumped 354.48 points or 0.47 per cent to 74,307.79.

Extending gains to the fifth day in a row, the NSE Nifty rose by 68.75 points or 0.31 per cent to finish at 22,597.80. FMCG and realty shares supported the uptrend while banking and metal shares declined.

"Despite mixed global market sentiments ahead of the US Fed minutes, Indian markets exhibited a subtle positive trend. Investors are optimistic about stable Q4 earnings and easing election jitters that had previously increased volatility.

"Interest in the FMCG sector has risen due to the potential for an early onset of monsoon. Nevertheless, markets may underperform in the short term as they wait for the election outcome, with FIIs staying on the sidelines," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Among the Sensex firms, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Asian Paints, ITC and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers.

State Bank of India, JSW Steel, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and Tata Motors were among the laggards

"Nifty ended a range-bound session in the positive. Nifty settled higher for the fifth consecutive session and recorded its longest winning streak since April 25," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.18 per cent while midcap index dipped 0.05 per cent.

Among the indices, realty jumped 1.41 per cent, FMCG by 1.26 per cent, IT by 0.63 per cent, utilities by 0.59 per cent, energy by 0.58 per cent and healthcare by 0.35 per cent.

Commodities, financial services, bankex and metal were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Shanghai settled in the positive territory while Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong ended lower. European markets were trading lower. Wall Street ended in the green on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.84 per cent to USD 82.18 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,874.54 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark declined 52.63 points or 0.07 per cent to settle at 73,953.31 on Tuesday. The Nifty, however, ended higher by 27.05 points or 0.12 per cent to 22,529.05.