Sensex closes 646 points higher as stocks resume fresh upward momentum

Equity benchmark indices reversed early losses on Wednesday and surged upwards, led by banking and financial stocks ahead of the Q2 corporate earnings results.

At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 646 points or 1.72 per cent at 38,178. The Nifty 50 wound up 187 points higher at 11,313. 

At the National Stock Exchange, all sectoral indices were in the positive zone except for IT.

Led by cheerful market sentiment, Nifty bank edged higher by 3.6 per cent and financial service by 3 per cent. But Nifty IT slipped by 0.7 per cent.

Among stocks, Raymond jumped by over 10 per cent intraday after it's associate company signed an agreement to sell its property in Thane for Rs 700 crore.

Private lenders IndusInd Bank and ICICI Bank moved up by 5.5 per cent and 4.9 per cent respectively while State Bank of India gained by 5.1 per cent ahead of the festive season.

Bharti Infratel witnessed a gain of 5.3 per cent, Bharti Airtel by 5.2 per cent, UltraTech Cement by 4.9 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra by 4.3 per cent and Tata Steel by 4 per cent.

But Yes Bank was down by 5.1 per cent at Rs 43.30 per share after the lender denied media reports saying it is in talks with three technology companies, including software major Microsoft, for a strategic investment.

Hero Motocorp, Titan, Zee Entertainment, HCL Technologies and ITC too were in the red with a loss between 1.2 and 2.8 per cent. 

Meanwhile, Asian markets were sharply lower as US-China trade frictions persisted even as officials from the two countries meet this week to work out a deal. 

Japan's Nikkei slid by 0.6 per cent in its biggest decline over a week while Hong Kong shares fell by 0.8 per cent due to persistent worries about the often violent protest against China`s rule of the former British colony.