Sensex Rises Over 300 Points; Nifty Ends Above 23,400

(RTTNews) - Indian shares eked out modest gains on Wednesday despite weak cues from other Asian and European market due to escalating U.S.-China trade tensions.

Global sentiment was fragile after chipmaker Nvidia said it would incur $5.5 billion in charges due to new U.S. export controls.

Meanwhile, China now faces up to a 245 percent tariff on imports to the United States as a result of its retaliatory actions, the White House said in a statement on Tuesday evening, reigniting trade war fears. The announcement came as President Donald Trump signed an executive order launching an investigation into the national security risks associated with U.S. reliance on imported critical minerals.

The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex rose 309.40 points, or 0.40 percent, to 77,044.29 amid expectations that signs of moderation in domestic inflation, especially core inflation, could pave the way for more RBI rate cuts in the coming months.

The broader NSE Nifty index closed up 108.65 points, or 0.47 percent, at 23,437.20 while the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes gained 0.6 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.

The market breadth was strong on the BSE, with 2,653 shares rising while 1.292 shares declined and 133 shares closed unchanged.

IndusInd Bank topped the gainers list to climb nearly 7 percent after the private sector lender said an external agency has estimated a negative impact of Rs. 1,979 crores from discrepancies in its derivative transactions.

Axis Bank followed suit with a 4 percent gain, while SBI, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints and Adani Ports rose 1-2 percent.

The rupee strengthened for a third straight session, tracking a weaker dollar in international markets as U.S. recession fears loomed and a top Federal Reserve official said the U.S. central bank would be forced to quickly make a series of "bad news" rate cuts if Donald Trump follows through on his threat to resume big reciprocal tariffs after the pause.