Equity indices gain ground, metal stocks shine

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Feb 12 (ANI): Equity benchmark gauges held firm during early hours on Wednesday led by a rally in metal and FMCG stocks amid positive global cues.
At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex edged higher by 405 points or nearly 1 per cent to 41,621 while the Nifty 50 was up by 108 points at 12,216.
Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the positive terrain with Nifty metal and FMCG up by 1.2 per cent each, financial service by 0.9 per cent and auto by 0.5 per cent.
Among stocks, Vedanta gained by 1.9 per cent at Rs 143.50 per share while Tata Steel moved up by 1.7 per cent, and JSW Steel by 1.3 per cent.
FMCG major Hindustan Lever advanced by over 3 per cent at Rs 2,221.10 per share as Nestle India added gains of 1.2 per cent. The other prominent gainers were Grasim, NTPC, Power Grid Corporation, HDFC and Axis Bank.
However, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Infratel, GAIL and Dr Reddy's traded with a negative bias.
Meanwhile, Asian shares nudged higher amid hopes the worst of the coronavirus in China may have passed. Still, there was prevailing uncertainty about the outbreak which kept several investors wary.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was up by 0.31 per cent. Chinese shares fell by 0.12 per cent but shares in Hong Kong rose by 0.57 per cent to a three-week high.
Japan's Nikkei stock index rose by 0.6 per cent. The market mood brightened after China's senior medical adviser said on Tuesday the number of new coronavirus cases was falling in some provinces and forecast the epidemic would peak this month.
(ANI)