Sensex, Nifty gain for third straight session led by Reliance, ICICI Bank

Markets gain for third session: The Indian equity benchmarks gained for third straight session on Wednesday led by gains in Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Motors. For most part of the day, Sensex and Nifty traded in a narrow range with Sensex rising as much as 348 points and Nifty hitting an intraday high of 21,641.85.

The Sensex rose 271 points to close at 71,658 and Nifty 50 index advanced 84 points to close at 21,628.

Meanwhile, emerging markets stocks hit near one-month lows on Wednesday, led by declines in broader Asian shares, while currencies slipped as investors awaited US inflation data for clarity on the timing of interest rate cuts.

The MSCI's gauge of emerging market stocks was down 0.4 per cent, hitting its lowest levels since December 14, while a basket of currencies slipped 0.1 per cent against a steady U0S dollar.

Across Asia, both Shanghai's Composite index and China's blue-chip shares dropped 0.5 per cent each, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.6 per cent. Taiwan shares declined 0.4 per cent.

Back home, ten of 13 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Metal index's 0.95 per cent gain. Nifty Pharma, Private Bank, Healthcare and Consumer Durable indices also rose around 0.5 per cent.

On the other hand, select state-run lenders and real estate shares faced selling pressure.

Mid- and small-cap shares ended mixed as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.3 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 0.15 per cent.

Adani Enterprises was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 3 per cent to close at Rs 3,108. Cipla, Reliance Industries, HCL Technologies, Hero MotoCorp, Adani Ports, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Wipro, JSW Steel and IndusInd Bank also rose between 1-3 per cent.

On the flipside, Divi's Labs, NTPC, Bharat Petroleum, ONGC, Power Grid, Ultratech Cement Axis Bank, Eichetr Motors and Bajaj Finance were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was marginally positive as 2,084 shares ended higher while 1,755 closed lower on the BSE.