The benchmark indices flattened after morning gains on Wednesday as the Sensex closed up 0.2 per cent, a gain of 114 points, at 73853 from its intraday high of 74121 while the Nifty finished 0.15 per cent higher at 22402 from its intraday peak of 22476, up nearly 75 points.

On the BSE Sensex, 13 of the 30 stocks ended in the red with TCS, Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, Reliance Industries, and Titan were the top drags for the day. JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Power Grid Corp., Kotak Mahindra Bank, and UltraTech Cement, were the top gainers.

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Meanwhile, 20 of the 50 stocks on the Nifty 50 ended in the red with Hindalco, Cipla, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, and Power Grid Corp were the top gainers, while Tata Consumer Products, Grasim Industries, Bajaj Auto, Tech Mahindra, and HDFC Life, were the top drags of the day.

In the sector-wise analysis, the BSE Metal surged 2.8 per cent , followed by BSE Commodities and Healthcare up 1.6 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

On the downside were the BSE Telecommunication index lost 1.6 per cent, followed by BSE IT and BSE Teck indices, each down 1 per cent.

Separately, barring IT, Media, PSU Bank, and Auto, all other sectoral indices ended in the green on Wednesday, with gains led by the Metal index, which had gained 2.69 per cent by close.

The healthcare index closed up 1.26 per cent, while the Consumer Durables index closed up 0.90 per cent, the Oil & Gas index ended 0.67 per cent higher, and the Pharma index closed up 0.66 per cent .

The Bank and Financial Services indices closed up 0.46 per cent and 0.51 per cent respectively while the FMCG index was up 0.05 per cent at close.

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices, with the BSE SmallCap gaining 0.79 per cent while the BSE MidCap closed up 0.92 per cent.

Notably, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index continued its winning streak for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, reaching a new all-time high of 16,822 points with a gain of 0.80 per cent. Over the past three trading sessions, the index has surged from 16,270 points to 16,687 points, marking a gain of 2.46 per cent.

Indian rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled for the day higher by 1 paisa at 83.30 against the US dollar. Forex traders said elevated crude oil prices and significant foreign fund outflows in the international market dented investors’ sentiments.

United Breweries share price ended with sharp gains of almost 10 per cent as the promoter Heineken N V reported strong beer sales during January-March 2024 quarter.

The recent uptrend in Indian equities has been attributed to favourable global cues and a decline in crude oil prices, with the oil market seemingly unaffected by the potential impact of additional sanctions on Iranian oil.

European stocks struggled to make headway with a rally in technology stocks barely keeping the benchmark afloat. The Stoxx Europe 600 edged about 0.2 per cent higher after its biggest two-day advance since November.

US equity futures advanced, with contracts on the Nasdaq 100 outperforming. Further, Tesla Inc.’s gains alone represented about a third of the rally in Nasdaq futures.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased the most in a month, with chip-related stocks among the best performers.