Mumbai’s benchmark indices ended the trading session in positive territory on Wednesday, buoyed by robust buying in consumer durables, oil & gas, and energy stocks. The BSE Sensex climbed 78.56 points, or 0.09 percent, to settle at 83,817.69, while the NSE Nifty advanced 48.45 points, or 0.19 percent, closing at 25,776.
Sectoral performance painted a mixed picture. Nifty Consumer Durables surged 2.66 percent, leading the gains, followed by Nifty Oil & Gas at 2.08 percent, Nifty Energy at 2 percent, Nifty Commodities at 1.90 percent, Nifty PSE at 1.60 percent, Nifty Infra at 1.57 percent, and Nifty Consumption at 1.41 percent. These sectors captured investor attention amid broader market optimism.
In contrast, technology and select defensive pockets lagged. Nifty IT plunged 5.87 percent, weighed down by heavy selling pressure, with Nifty India Defence down 0.77 percent, Nifty Services 0.42 percent, and Nifty Pharma 0.34 percent.
Midcap and smallcap indices outperformed their largecap counterparts, signaling strength in smaller companies. The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 376.50 points or 0.63 percent to 59,683.60, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 gained 216.15 points or 1.27 percent to end at 17,205.10.
Among Sensex constituents, Eternal, Trent, NTPC, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Maruti Suzuki, Titan, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, M&M, L&T, Tata Steel, ITC, and HDFC Bank were the top performers. On the flip side, Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank closed lower.
Sudeep Shah, Chief Technical and Derivatives Research Analyst at SBI Securities, noted that the Nifty opened weakly and traded in a narrow range throughout the day but managed a 0.19 percent gain to close at 25,776. He highlighted intense selling in Nifty IT, attributing it to Anthropic, a US AI firm, launching a legal tool for its cloud AI chatbot, potentially intensifying competition in the software segment.
Looking ahead, Shah identified resistance for Nifty between 25,950 and 26,000. A decisive breakout could propel it to 26,200, while support lies in the 25,600-25,550 zone on any downside. Investors will watch these levels closely as market sentiment evolves amid global cues.