Markets End Higher: Sensex Climbs 152 Points, Nifty Settles Above 24,600

Indian benchmark indices ended higher on Wednesday despite a volatile trading session.

With markets recovering from intraday lows after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept interest rates unchanged. The impact of the new closing auction mechanism also eased considerably on its third day of implementation.

The BSE Sensex rose 152.05 points (0.19%) to close at 78,581.00 after swinging sharply through the day. The 30-share index opened above the 79,000 mark, touched an intraday high of 79,055.38, and later slipped to a low of 78,285.74 before recovering.

The Nifty 50 ended 9.75 points (0.04%) higher at 24,624.65. However, at the end of the regular trading session at 3:15 pm, the benchmark was down 44.70 points at 24,570.20.

The final closing price was lifted by nearly 54 points during the Closing Auction Session (CAS)—a much smaller adjustment compared with gains of over 200 points on Monday and around 150 points on Tuesday under Sebi’s revised settlement framework.

The narrower gap between the 3:15 pm close and the official settlement price suggests that the market is gradually adjusting to the new closing auction process after the sharp fluctuations witnessed during its initial rollout.

Earlier in the day, the RBI kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.25% and maintained its ‘neutral’ monetary policy stance. Equity markets initially gained after the policy announcement, erased those gains in afternoon trade, and later recovered before the close.

Broader markets outperformed the headline indices. The Nifty Smallcap 100 advanced 0.59%, the Nifty Midcap 100 gained 0.17%, and the Nifty 500 added 0.17%. Meanwhile, the India VIX declined 2.07% to 11.94, indicating easing market volatility.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Metal led the gains with a 1.68% rise, followed by Nifty Auto (1.28%), Nifty Realty (0.85%), and Nifty PSU Bank (0.73%). On the downside, Nifty Media fell 1.71%, while Nifty Private Bank, Nifty IT, Nifty FMCG, and Nifty Healthcare also ended lower.

Among Sensex constituents, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, State Bank of India (SBI), Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, and Larsen & Toubro were the top gainers. TCS, HCLTech, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank weighed on the index.

Wednesday’s session marked a calmer response to Sebi’s revised closing auction mechanism, with the auction continuing to influence benchmark settlement levels but to a much lesser extent than in the previous two trading sessions.