Equity indices gain after choppy session, auto and metal stocks rally

Equity benchmark indices closed half a per cent higher on Wednesday after a volatile session with auto and metal stocks gaining ground but public sector banks slipped.

Analysts said the market mood was subdued despite defence forces from India and China holding talks to defuse the escalating border tensions.

At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex up by 185 points or 0.48 per cent at 39,086 while the Nifty 50 gained by 65 points or 0.56 per cent at 11,535.

Except for Nifty PSU bank and financial service which dipped marginally, other sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive terrain with Nifty metal gaining by 1.8 per cent, auto by 1.1 per cent and IT by 1.5 per cent.

Among stocks, shares of Vodafone Idea jumped by 11.5 per cent to Rs 9.91 per unit after the company announced a board meet on September 4 to consider fund raising.

Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 6.1 per cent at Rs 644.80 per share and Tata Motors by 5.1 per cent to Rs 151.15.

Metal majors Tata Steel and JSW Steel witnessed gains of 2.9 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively. Others which traded with a positive bias were Bharti Infratel, Ad Green Energy, Ad Ports, IndusInd Bank and Coal India.

However, Bajaj Auto skidded by 2.3 per cent, Hero MotoCorp by 1.4 per cent, Asian Paints by 1.4 per cent and State Bank of India by 0.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian shares were mixed after buoyant US manufacturing indicators and a rally in US tech shares.

Japan's Nikkei advanced by 0.47 per cent but Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 0.26 per cent. The Shanghai composite was down by 0.17 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )

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