Stock market today: BSE Sensex closes 740 points up; Nifty50 above 22,300

Stock market today: The BSE Sensex advanced by 740 points whilst Nifty ended its 10-day decline on Wednesday, driven by value buying in utilities and power sectors, alongside positive global market trends. The BSE Sensex rose by 740.30 points or 1.01 per cent, closing at 73,730.23, after reaching an intra-day peak of 73,933.80, up 943.87 points.
The NSE Nifty halted its 10-day downward trend, climbing 254.65 points or 1.15 per cent to finish at 22,337.30, having touched a high of 22,394.90 during trading hours.
Among Sensex constituents, gains were recorded by Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, ITC, Nestle India, HCL Technologies, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, Asian Paints and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
The declining shares included Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, and Zomato.
"Strong global market cues led the recovery in domestic indices as talks that the Trump administration could reverse some tariffs amidst the ongoing global trade tensions buoyed sentiment," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
The market sentiment was additionally supported by the improvement in February PMI figures, according to Tapse.
India's services sector showed significant growth in February, with enhanced domestic and international demand leading to increased output and employment levels, as indicated by a monthly survey released on Wednesday.
The HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index increased to 59.0 in February from January's 26-month low of 56.5, signalling robust expansion.
"India's services business activity index rose to 59.0 in February 2025, up considerably from January's 26-month low of 56.5. Global demand, which grew at its fastest pace in six months according to the new export business index, played a major role in driving output growth for India's services sector," said Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC.
Asian markets in Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul finished positively. European markets traded higher, whilst Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.49 per cent to USD 70.69 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 3,405.82 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data.