Sensex, Nifty end marginally higher ahead of Union Budget

Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher Wednesday after a volatile session as investors looked ahead to the Union Budget for further cues.

Extending its gains for the third session, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 22.77 points, or 0.06 per cent, higher at 39,839.25. The index hit an intra-day high of 39,934.99 and a low of 39,732.38.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty edged up 6.45 points, or 0.05 per cent, to finish at 11,916.75. During the day, the index touched a high of 11,945.20 and a low of 11,887.05.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included IndusInd Bank, ITC, L&T, M&M, PowerGrid, Asian Paints and SBI, ending up to 3.79 per cent higher.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Vedanta, Infosys, Yes Bank, Tata Motors, TCS, HCL Tech and Maruti were the top losers, shedding up to 1.44 per cent.

Overseas, equity markets turned jittery amid fears of an economic slowdown on weakening global manufacturing growth.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a negative note, while equity markets in Europe were trading in the green in their respective early sessions.

Besides being cautious ahead of the Union Budget, scheduled for Friday, investors turned wary after data showed that the country’s services sector activity in June contracted for the first time since May 2018.

The IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index fell to 49.6 in June, down from 50.2 in May, as broadly stagnant sales caused the first drop in business activity in over a year.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.82 per cent to USD 62.91 per barrel after the Opec bloc Tuesday signed a pact to extend production cuts for nine months.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee was trading flat at 68.93 against the US dollar intra-day.