Sensex Up 384 Points; BEL Leads, IT Drags

Sensex close: It ended at 77,301.40, up 383.55 points (0.5%), against Tuesday’s close of 76,917.85. Nifty close: The Nifty50 settled at 23,960.60, up 149.75 points (0.63%). Streak: This is the fifth straight session of gains, and India outperformed most Asian markets, with the Nikkei down 3.56% and the Kospi down 2.67% at the open. Choppy session: The Sensex touched an intraday high of 77,396.04 but swung between gains and losses around midday as investors watched the US midterm election results and crude oil. Top gainers: Business Standard lists Bharat Electronics, Adani Enterprises and Titan as the top Nifty50 gainers. At midday

was up 3.42% and BEL up 3.12% Top loser: At midday TCS was the steepest decliner, down 2.46%, followed by Coal India (-2.28%) and HCL Tech (-1.76%). Sectors: Nifty IT fell over 1% and was the only sectoral loser, while media, metal, FMCG and realty outperformed. Drivers: FPI buying and easing crude oil supported the rally, with Brent near $104 yesterday.