Stocks close higher; metal stocks outperform

Equity benchmark indices continued to trend higher on Wednesday as across the board buying was seen in major sectoral indices. The BSE S&P Sensex closed 157 points higher at 39,592 while the Nifty 50 was up 51 points at 11,848.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), all sectoral indices except for FMCG and IT were in the green. Nifty metal moved up 2.73 per cent while PSU bank gained 1.88 per cent. Among stocks, Allahabad Bank surged over 15 per cent, Syndicate Bank by 7.3 per cent and Oriental Bank of Commerce about 5 per cent.

Reliance Infrastructure jumped 17.44 per cent to Rs 60.95 per share after the company bagged Rs 7,000 crore Versova-Bandra Sea Link project. In metals, mining major Vedanta moved up 5.08 per cent while JSW Steel gained over 4 per cent. Power Grid, Sun Pharma and Hindalco also showed handsome gains.

However, the losers included Britannia, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Infosys, IndusInd Bank and Bharti Airtel. Meanwhile, Asian stocks dipped after overnight losses on Wall Street as Washington's conflict with trading partners continued. The Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.25 per cent and Japan's Nikkei retreated 0.6 per cent.

The United States hopes to re-launch trade talks with Beijing after US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping meet in Japan during the G20 summit on Saturday.