Sensex ends above 53K for first time; Tata Steel, HDFC twins sparkle

Equity benchmark Sensex jumped 194 points to close above the 53,000-mark for the first time on Wednesday, propelled by metal, finance, and banking stocks, as investors were in buying mode ahead of a reshuffle of the Union Cabinet.

However, a weakening rupee and lacklustre global cues capped the gains, traders said.

Overcoming a choppy start, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 193.58 points or 0.37 percent to close at its fresh lifetime high of 53,054.76.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 61.40 points or 0.39 percent to its record peak of 15,879.65.

Tata Steel topped the Sensex gainers' chart, rallying 4.38 percent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, HDFC, Nestle India, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma and PowerGrid.

On the other hand, Titan, Maruti, Reliance Industries, M&M, Tech Mahindra, and Bajaj Auto were among the laggards, sliding up to 2.06 percent.

''Markets bounced back into the positive terrain in afternoon trade led by metal stocks. Cabinet reshuffle today created interest amongst market participants as we saw some hectic activity in smaller private sector banks,'' said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, ''Global markets traded mixed ahead of the FOMC minutes as investors preferred safe-haven bonds and dollars. Healthy pre-sale numbers boosted buying interest in realty stocks while metal stocks followed the trend.'' BSE metal, realty, basic materials, capital goods, and finance indices jumped as much as 2.31 percent, while consumer durables, energy, oil and gas, auto, and utilities nursed losses. Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose up to 0.58 percent. World stocks were subdued ahead of the release of the minutes from the US Federal Reserve's latest meeting. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo ended in the red, while Shanghai was positive.

Equities in Europe were trading with gains in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.64 percent to USD 75.75 per barrel. The rupee weakened by 7 paise to end at 74.62 against the US currency on Wednesday as a stronger dollar and rising crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 543.30 crore, as per exchange data.