Sensex advances 158 pts before US Fed decision

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Mumbai: Fuelled by late buying, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Wednesday gained for the third straight day to end 158 points higher on the back of banking, FMCG, oil&gas and healthcare shares ahead of the US Federal Reserve's decision on reducing its monthly bond purchases.
After gaining 71 points in last two sessions, the Sensex rose by 158.13 points, or 0.80 per cent to end at 19,962.16.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 49.25 points, or 0.84 per cent to 5,899.45. Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, ended at 11,801.58, up 78.94 points or 0.67 per cent. The outcome of the two-day Fed meeting will be known after 2pm EST in the US (about 11:30pm Indian time).
Domestic markets also got a boost from falling crude oil as Brent slipped towards USD 108 a barrel mark. In 30-share Sensex components, 24 stocks gained while six ended lower.
Major supporters were Dr Reddy's, HDFC Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank, HUL, ITC, RIL, L&T, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Power, Wipro and Sun Pharma. Sectorally, the realty sector index gained the most by 2.03 per cent, followed by banking index (1.56 per cent), FMCG index (1.37 per cent) and oil and gas index (0.87 per cent).
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee traded near 63.2 levels when the domestic stock market closed.
By the end of trade on Wednesday, shares of SKS Microfinance were up 8 per cent at Rs 133.65 on the BSE. In intra-day, the stock gained 12.6 per cent to Rs 139.35. At the NSE, the scrip settled the day at Rs 133, up 7.65 per cent from its previous close.
In terms of volume, 4.84 lakh shares of the company changed hands on the BSE, while over 13 lakh shares were traded on the NSE. Meanwhile, in the broader market, the BSE benchmark Sensex ended at 19,962.16, up 158.13 points or 0.80 per cent.