Sensex jumps 149 points, Nifty closes above 23,300

Mumbai: Indian equity benchmark indices closed in the green on Wednesday following a volatile session.

At closing, Sensex settled at 76,606, up 149 points or 0.20 per cent, and Nifty was at 23,322, up 58 points or 0.25 per cent.

During the day, the NSE benchmark hit an all-time high of 23,441 after breaching an earlier high of 23,411.

Buying was seen in small and medium stocks. The Nifty midcap 100 index closed 559 points or 1.02 per cent higher at 54,226 and the Nifty smallcap 100 index closed 216 points or 1.23 per cent higher at 17,788.

Among the sectoral indices, PSU Bank, Metal, Media, Energy, Infra, Healthcare, and PSE were major gainers while Auto, FMCG and Realty were major losers.

India volatility index (India VIX) was down 2.64 per cent, at 14.38 points.

Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, L&T, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, and Bajaj Finserv were the top gainers. M&M, HUL, Titan, Infosys, Axis Bank, Nestle, TCS, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top losers.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities said, "The Nifty closed flat after a strong initial hour of trading, encountering resistance around 23,400. However, the short-term trend remains positive as the index stayed above 23,300."

"In the near term, the index might continue consolidating within the 23,300-23,500 range. A decisive breakout above 23,500 could trigger a rally towards 23,800," he added.