Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed marginally higher in a rangebound trade on Wednesday as investors stayed on the sidelines amid weak global market trends and tariff-related uncertainty.
Rising for the second day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex edged up 63.57 points or 0.08 per cent to settle at 82,634.48. During the day, it hit a high of 82,784.75 and a low of 82,342.94.
The 50-share NSE Nifty ended 16.25 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 25,212.05.
Among Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, Infosys, Adani Ports and ITC were the major gainers.
However, Eternal, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance and Bharat Electronics were among the major laggards.
"Indian equity markets closed modestly higher on Wednesday, recovering from early losses amid foreign fund inflows, easing market volatility, and renewed buying interest in IT stocks," Gaurav Garg, Analyst, Lemonn Markets Desk, said.
Tech Mahindra rose by 1.94 per cent ahead of its financial results that were announced after market hours. The company posted a 30 per cent jump in consolidated profit after tax to Rs 1,128.8 crore in the June quarter of FY26 over the year-ago period.
Infosys rebounded by 1.5 per cent, helping the key indices close in green.
"India’s macroeconomic outlook remains strong, supported by easing inflation, lower interest rates, a healthy monsoon, and softer oil prices. A drop in inflation in eight straight months has provided a push to the market. However, investors are showing a mix of optimism and caution in the relief rally to assess the Q1 FY26 corporate earnings, as an upgrade in earnings is essential in the premium valued stock market.
"Additionally, global sentiment is mixed amid tariff concerns—highlighted by the announcement of a 50% duty on copper—and fading hopes of a near-term US Fed rate cut on account of sticky inflation, adding market uncertainty," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 120.47 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
"The benchmark equity indices exhibited range-bound price action and ended marginally in the green, marking the second consecutive session of gains. Market participants remained cautious amid prevailing uncertainty around global tariff developments," according to Bajaj Broking Research.
The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.28 per cent and midcap index went up by 0.10 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, BSE Focused IT climbed 0.67 per cent, followed by IT (0.66 per cent), services (0.55 per cent), realty (0.50 per cent) and teck (0.49 per cent).
Commodities, capital goods, metal and industrials were the laggards.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled lower.
European markets were trading on a mixed note. The US markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.26 per cent to USD 68.55 a barrel.
On Tuesday, the Sensex climbed 317.45 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 82,570.91. The Nifty edged higher by 113.50 points or 0.45 per cent to 25,195.80.
