Equity gauges lose early gains on profit booking, Zee gains 14 pc intra-day

Equity benchmark indices came off early highs in the afternoon trade on Wednesday as profit booking emerged at higher levels.

Equity benchmark indices came off early highs in the afternoon trade on Wednesday as profit booking emerged at higher levels. The BSE S&P Sensex closed 86 points or 0.22 per cent at 38,615 while the Nifty 50 gained by 23 points or 0.2 per cent at 11,408.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty media gaining by 5.3 per cent, PSU bank by 2.3 per cent and realty by 1.2 per cent. Among stocks, Zee Entertainment was the top gainers after moving up 14 per cent to Rs 198.40 per share. A day earlier, it reported 94 per cent fall in its net profit for the June quarter while Subhash Chandra tendered his resignation as the Non-Executive Director.

Energy major GAIL advanced by 5 per cent at Rs 101.80 per share. The other major gainers were Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, UPL and HDFC Life. However, Bajaj Auto skidded by 1.2 per cent to Rs 3,067.50 per share while ONGC slipped by 1.1 per cent. IT majors Wipro and Infosys too lost marginally along with FMCG giants Britannia and Hindustan Lever.

Meanwhile, Asian shares climbed to a seven-month peak tracking the S&P 500, which scaled all-time highs. The positive sentiment was driven by ever-expanding policy stimulus aimed at cushioning the blow to economies from coronavirus pandemic. South Korea's Kospi added 0.52 per cent while Japan's Nikkei nudged up by 0.26 per cent. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 0.74 per cent. (ANI)