Fag-end buying helps Sensex climb 100 points

Equity benchmark indices ended in the positive territory on Wednesday on buying in HDFC Bank and a largely firm trend in Asian markets.

Fag-end buying helped the BSE Sensex climb 100.26 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 65,880.52.

During the day, it had declined 292.23 points or 0.44 per cent to 65,488.03.

The Nifty advanced 36.15 points or 0.18 per cent to end at 19,611.05.

From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Titan, ITC, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the major gainers.

Tata Steel, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, NTPC and ICICI Bank were the major laggards.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green while Seoul settled lower.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.70 per cent to $89.41 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,725.11 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.