On day UP CM Yogi Adityanath rang the BSE's opening bell, here's how the Sensex fared

The BSE Sensex closed marginally lower than its opening on Wednesday, on a day that a visiting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had rung the opening bell.

The benchmark index of 30 companies ended the day 37 points down (-0.084%) at 44,618.14, having started the day at 44.579 points. The Sensex made a late rally in the last two hours of trading, corresponding with news of the UK approving the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine.

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As per PTI, the index retreated from record highs due to profit booking in banking and infrastructure stocks by cautious investors after the recent rally. Markets had opened with losses as investors were cautious over a possible US stimulus package. However, the UK's approval for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine cheered investors helping the indices to limit losses, analysts said.

Among major gainers, ONGC rose the most by 4.11 per cent, followed by Asian Paints (3.74 per cent) and Titan (3.48 per cent). Auto stocks gained after the companies reported sales growth in the domestic market in November, aided by robust offtakes amid the festival season. Bajaj Auto rose by 2.86 per cent, Mahindra and Mahindra by 2.53 per cent and Maruti Suzuki by 1.47 per cent. IT major TCS and Infosys recovered from early lows to close higher by 0.81 per cent and 0.33 per cent, respectively.

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UP CM Yogi Adityanath rings BSE opening bell

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister is in Mumbai for a 2-day visit and his first stop was the Bombay Stock Exchange where the city of Lucknow has become the seventh in India to raise money (Rs 200 crore) through the issuance of municipal bonds - the LMC or Lucknow Municipal Bonds.

Adityanath called the listing a historic moment and added that other cities including Ghaziabad, Agra, Kanpur, Prayagraj and Varanasi will be using this route for raising resources.

"I am confident that very soon, we will be present here with Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation's bonds, he said, speaking at Asia's oldest stock bourse.

He also seemed to appreciate the financial capital's role in resource mobilization, saying the "Mahalaxmi Temple" is aiding in the economic progress of the country for over a century.

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(With agency inputs)