Indian stock market today: Sensex rises 350 points, Nifty above 23,200 as HCL Tech, M&M and Axis Bank gain

Indian benchmark indices traded higher on Wednesday, September 16, with the Sensex gaining around 350 points and the Nifty moving above 23,200 in a volatile session. Buying in HCL Technologies, Mahindra and Mahindra and Axis Bank supported the main indices, while broader markets remained under pressure.

At 10:11 am, the Sensex was up 192.37 points at 74,196.19, while the Nifty gained 57.40 points to 23,176. The Nifty Midcap index fell 0.8% and the Smallcap index declined 1.5%.

Stock market today at a glance

Index or indicatorLevel or movement
Sensex	74,196.19, up 192 points
Nifty 50	23,176, up 57 points
Nifty Midcap	Down 0.8%
Nifty Smallcap	Down 1.5%
Rupee	₹95.93 per dollar

HCL Tech, M&M and Axis Bank gain

HCL Technologies gained around 2.2% to ₹1,281.20, while Mahindra and Mahindra rose 2.18% to ₹3,095.40. Axis Bank gained 2.09% to ₹1,248.50.

Other notable gainers included Muthoot Finance, Marico, Patanjali Foods and Reliance Industries. HCL Tech was also among the top Nifty gainers during early trading.

Broader market remains weak

The broader market continued to see selling pressure. Tata Investment Corporation fell more than 7%, while Welspun Corp, Afcons Infrastructure and Tata Chemicals were among the notable smallcap decliners.

Nifty Pharma also traded lower, with Laurus Labs, Wockhardt, Divis Laboratories and Aurobindo Pharma among the major losers.

UPI MDR stocks in focus

Payment related stocks remained in focus after the new UPI Merchant Discount Rate framework. Capital market transactions involving mutual funds, securities, stockbrokers and dealers will attract an MDR of 0.02%, capped at ₹300.

The broader UPI framework includes a 0.4% MDR for selected merchant transactions above ₹2,000 from October 15, while customers are not supposed to bear the charge directly. UPI

Manika Plastech IPO subscription

Manika Plastech IPO was subscribed 9.69 times by 10:42 am on its third day. The issue saw subscription of 13.40 times from retail investors and 12.55 times from non institutional investors, while the qualified institutional buyer portion stood at 0.81 times. IPO

Rupee trades near ₹95.93

The Indian rupee erased some of its opening gains but continued to trade marginally higher at ₹95.93 against the US dollar, compared with the previous close of ₹95.96.

The market remained volatile as investors tracked global cues, sectoral movements, crude oil prices and the upcoming US Federal Reserve decision. market