The Indian markets ended higher on Wednesday. The markets were mainly led by index heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance after Goldman Sachs set a Street-high target price. Oil marketing companies also boosted markets as a drop in crude oil prices aided hopes of sustained refining margins. Sensex rose 526 points and closed at 72,996 while Nifty gained 119 points and closed at 22,123.
Sectors
Small- and mid-caps gained 1% and 0.1%, respectively
Nifty Oil & Gas rose 0.5%, boosted by a 3.5% rise in Reliance Industries.
Stocks in news
ABB India closed 5.7% higher after UBS raised its price target citing sustainable earnings and growth in its electrification business.
Smallcap pharma firm Wockhardt closed with a 5% upper circuit after the company said it raised Rs 480 crore via QIP
Global Markets
Asian shares were mixed after Wall Street slipped a bit from its record highs. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 1.4% and the Shanghai Composite index was down 1.3%. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.9% and the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5%.
Oil & Rupee
Oil prices fell, dropping more than 1% on Wednesday due to surging U.S. stockpiles and signs that the OPEC+ producer group is unlikely to change its output policy at a technical meeting next week.
Brent crude futures for May closed at $85.28 a barrel while U.S. WTI crude futures for May ended at $80.69.
The Indian rupee dropped to a record low due to strong dollar demand from importers and local oil companies. Closed at 83.3750 against the U.S. dollar.
