Sensex up 630 pts, Nifty atop 16,500; ONGC, RIL, Infy, TCS top contributors

CLOSING BELL

Stock market highlights: Supportive global cues amid consistently falling commodity prices, and the government's decision to cut windfall tax on fuel exports lifted sentiment on the Street on Wednesday. The S&P BSE Sensex opened gap-up with a gain of over 600 points and built on them to hit a high of 55,630. By close, the index stood at 55,397, up 630 points or 1.15 per cent. 

The Nifty50, on the other hand, reclaimed the 16,500-mark to end at 16,521, up 180 points or 1.1 per cent. 

ONGC, Tech M, Reliance Industries, TCS, HCL Tech, SBI, and Infosys were the top gainers, up between 2 per cent and 3.7 per cent. HDFC Life, M&M, Eicher Motors, and Sun Pharma, on the other hand, weere the losers in a solid market, down up to 2 per cent.

The broader market, however, underperformed the frontline indices today as they added up to 0.42 per cent. Sectorally, the Nifty IT index climbed 3 per cent, followed by the Nifty FMCG (up over 1 per cent). On the negative side, the Nifty Realty index fell 0.29 per cent.

Windfall tax cut

The government's quicker-than-expected cut in windfall tax on fuel exports should "normalize equity multiples" of Reliance Industries and state-owned ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation), analysts at Morgan Stanley said on Wednesday. Besides, they see ONGC earning profit per barrel worth $25, which is 20 per cent higher over last year's profit. READ MORE

Technically, Reliance Industries shares opened gap-up over the 200-day moving average (DMA) set at Rs 2,507-mark. If the stock manages to hold ground above the same, a positive upside can be expected as the stock has held support near the Rs 2,350 level earlier. READ MORE