Nifty closes at 12,130-Tata Motors top performer

Nifty closes at 12,130-Tata Motors top performer

Equity benchmark indices ended higher on Wednesday due to buying seen in select metal,FMCG and auto stocks while investors hoped for market-friendly proposals in the upcoming Union Budget for 2020-21.

The BSE S&p Sensex closed 232 points higher at 41,999 while the Nifty 50 ticked up by 74 points at 12,130.Except for Nifty pharma,all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the green with Nifty FMCG lifting up by 1.3 percent,metal by 0.9 percent and auto by 0.8percent.

Among stocks,Tata motors advanced by 6.8percent to Rs 188.10 per share.Bajaj Finance jumped over 5 percent after its third quarter earnings beat analyst expectations.

FMCG majors Nestle India moved up by 2.8percent each while JSW Steel was up by 2.3percent.The other prominent gainers included Bajaj Finserv,Adani Ports,Power Grid Corporation and Infosys.

However,Eicher Motors dipped by 4.5percent.Yes bank,Dr reddy's,Tata Consultancy SErvices and HDFC too closed in the red.

Meanwhile,Asian shares erased arlier gains and slipped into negative territory as a spike in new CHinese virus cases sent Hong Kong stocks tumbling and fueled fears about the economic impact of the outbreak.

Hong Kong shares fell by 2.82percent,led by declines in financial services,real estate and consumer goods companies.

But Japan's Nikkei stock index advanced by 0.71 percent and South Korea's Kospi also added 0.39 percent.Markets in China were closed for a holiday.