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The Sensex made a mild recovery to close 36 points higher at 31,245.56, backed by uninterrupted buying by domestic institutional investors amid positive global cues.
After a strong opening, the BSE 30—share gauge advanced to hit a high of 31,284.64 but succumbed to profit—booking and hit a low of 31,177.78 before settling at 31,245.56, up 35.77 points, or 0.11 per cent. It remained range—bound throughout the day.
The gauge had shed 11.83 points in the previous session.
The 50—share Nifty managed to maintain its key 9,600—mark and scaled a high of 9,643.65 before finally ending at 9,637.60, up 24.30 points, or 0.25 per cent.
Meanwhile, the services sector activity in India rose to an eight—month high of 53.1 in June, driven by a sharp jump in new work orders, suggesting an economic rebound going forward, the Nikkei India PMI survey said today.
The broader markets too were on a firm trend as retail investors widened their bets. The BSE small—cap index rose 1.12 per cent and mid—cap index gained 0.97 per cent
A lack of clear drivers capped broader advances in other sectors.
Though markets largely welcomed the unveiling of a unified goods and services tax, other key events loom including the start of earnings reports later this month.
Sentiment was also impacted as Asian markets were subdued as simmering tensions on the Korean peninsula supported safe-harbours. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan.
"The markets are rangebound," said Neeraj Dewan, director of Quantum Securities.
"The positivity of GST is still not factored in by most sectors which will take some time."
Reliance Industries rallied for the third straight session as analysts pointed to positive expectations on its quarterly results, while Brent crude oil remained below $50 per barrel. Reliance stock rose as much as 1.55 percent to its highest since June 22. Reliance finished 1.20 per cent higher at Rs 1,439.80, on the BSE.
Automakers rose on hopes that the GST would lower their tax administration costs. Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd was among the top percentage gainers on the Nifty index. It jumped as much as 2.97 per cent, its biggest intraday percentage gain in over a month. It finished 2.2 per cent higher at Rs 1,385.05 on the BSE.
Global markets
Asian share markets inched back into the black on Wednesday as investors wagered the latest flare-up of tensions on the Korean peninsula would fade away like so many others.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan regained 0.3 per cent, half the losses suffered Tuesday when North Korea fired a missile into Japanese waters.
“North Korea's success in ICBM test can have some pressure since it means improvements in missile technology, but the test alone will only have limited impact like any other missiles launched before,” said Kim Doo-un, a foreign exchange analyst at Hana Financial Investment.
South Korea's main index rebounded by 0.36 per cent and Japan's Nikkei ended up 0.25 per cent.
E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were barely changed, while yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes dipped 2 basis points to 2.33 percent.
In Europe, Eurostoxx futures fell 0.3 per cent, with the DAX off 0.2 per cent and the FTSE 0.1 per cent.
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