Sensex closes up 174.84 points, Nifty ends above 12,000; Tata Motors, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank gain

Mumbai: The last minuted buying helped equity indices on Wednesday (December 4) to end near the day's high level amid a report that the US and China are moving closer to the phase-one trade deal. The Sensex closed up 174.84 points or 0.43% at 40,850.29, while Nifty ended up 49 points or 0.41% at 12,043.20. Tata Motors, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, Vedanta, and Hindalco Industries were among major gainers on the Nifty, while L&T, Reliance Industries, Coal India, IOC, and Asian Paints were the loser stocks. 

Except for energy and infra all other sectoral indices ended in the green led by the IT, metal, bank, pharma, and auto. About 1251 shares have advanced, 1197 shares declined, while 200 shares remain unchanged. 

During early hours on Wednesday, equity benchmark indices were largely flat following gloomy global trends after US President Donald Trump said that a trade deal with China may have to wait until after the 2020 presidential election.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 90 points to 40,766 while the Nifty 50 edged higher by 20 points at 12,014. Except for Nifty metal, which slipped by nearly 1 per cent, all other sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with thin margins.

Among stocks, Bharti Infratel gained by 3.5 per cent to Rs 257.10 per share while Tata Motors ticked up by 3 per cent. Private lenders ICICI Bank and Axis Bank showed gains of 1.4 per cent and 0.9 per cent, and other prominent gainers were Eicher Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, Adani Ports, ONGC and Hindustan Lever.

Meanwhile, Asian shares extended their losses after US President Donald Trump dashed hopes for a quick preliminary agreement with China on trade tariffs, saying the deal may have to wait until after the 2020 presidential election. Fresh US tariffs on Argentina and Brazil, as well as threatened duties on French goods, also darkened the mood. 

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell by 0.9 per cent.Japan`s Nikkei dropped by 1.2 per cent, matched by falls in Hong Kong and South Korea where stock markets hit their lowest since October.

(With Agency inputs)