(RTTNews) – Indian shares ended higher for a second consecutive session on Wednesday after India and the U.S. agreed to speed up talks on a bilateral trade.
After a high-level official meeting, it was decided to intensify efforts to achieve early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Trade Agreement,” according to a statement issued by the Commerce and Industry Ministry.
Overall gains, however, remained capped ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision due later in the day. The Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points amid slowing job growth.
On the trade front, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that India could lose access to the American market if it does not start buying corn from the U.S.
Speaking to Axios in an interview, Lutnick threatened that New Delhi could face a “tough time” if it doesn’t bring down its tariffs.
The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex ended the session up 313.02 points, or 0.38 percent, at 82,693.71, extending gains for a second day.
The broader NSE Nifty index closed up 91.15 points, or 0.36 percent, to 25,330.25 while the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes rose 0.2 percent and half a percent, respectively.
The market breadth was strong on the BSE, with 2,433 shares rising while 1,721 shares declined and 174 shares closed unchanged.
State-run bank SBI jumped more than 3 percent after completing divestment of 13.19 percent stake in Yes Bank to Japan’s SMBC.
Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Trent, Maruti Suzuki India, Kotak Mahindra Bank and BEL climbed 1-2 percent.
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