Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty end higher led by financial, energy stocks; BPCL gains 4%, Bajaj Finance up 3.5%

Indian shares ended higher on Wednesday led by gains in financials, energy and IT stocks.

The Sensex ended the day with 93 points higher at 38,599, while the broader Nifty50 index added 36 points to end the day at 11,464. The Nifty Midcap fell 0.16 percent, while and the Nifty Smallcap index rose 0.3 percent.

BPCL, Bajaj Finance, Zee, Grasim, and ONGC were the top gainers on the Nifty50, while Hero MotoCorp, Vedanta, Hindalco, Asian Paints and NTPC led the losses.

Sectoral Indices were mixed for the day. Nifty IT rose the most, up 1 percent, followed by Nifty Media and Nifty Realty, up 0.8 percent each. Meanwhile, Nifty Fin Services added 0.6 percent and Nifty Energy gained 0.5 percent. Among losers, the Nifty PSU Bank index declined 0.8 percent and Nifty IT lost 0.5 percent.

BPCL added over 4 percent after reports that Saudi Aramco is likely to announce its interest in the company during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Saudi Arabia visit which is likely to take place at the end of October.

Wipro rose 2 percent after the company reported better-than-expected September-quarter earnings and also gave an optimistic revenue forecast for the next quarter.