Taking Stock | Market ends higher on another volatile day, metals shine

Taking Stock | Market ends higher on another volatile day, metals shine

The Indian equity benchmarks closed higher after a volatile session on February 28, on broad-based buying and positive cues from Asian markets.

After opening lower over the Russia-Ukraine war, the market remained under pressure for a couple of hours but buying in the second half saw it end near the day's high.

At close, the Sensex was up 388.76 points, or 0.70 percent, at 56,247.28, and the Nifty was up 135.50 points, or 0.81 percent, at 16,793.90.

"Aggravated Russia-Ukraine conflict along with fresh sanctions on Russia by global powers weighed on western markets. Despite opening on a negative tone, domestic indices staged a strong recovery lifted by metal stocks and positive Asian markets," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"Metal stocks rallied on hopes that curtailing Russian exports would help Indian steelmakers to capture the export market share."

Domestic investors were keenly awaiting the release of the Q3 GDP data later in the day, which was expected at 6.5 percent against 8.4 percent in the previous quarter, Nair added.

Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, Power Grid Corporation, JSW Steel and BPCL were among the top Nifty gainers. Losers included HDFC Life, Dr Reddy's Labs, M&M, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank.

Except auto