**Moneycontrol News**

The S&P BSE Sensex rallied over 200 points on Wednesday despite negative global cues on Wednesday. The Nifty50 reclaimed 10,700 levels and closed above its short-term moving averages such as 5-EMA, 13-EMA, as well as 50-EMA which is a bullish sign.

The index picked up momentum after the Union Cabinet approved the proposal to hike minimum support price (MSP) for all Kharif crops by 1.5 times of the input cost for the 2018-19 season, a move that is expected to boost farmers’ income.

The move is in line with the announcement made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Budget 2018 of MSP 1.5 times the cost of production for the crops. The increased MSP is also seen as a step towards meeting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to double farmer’s income by 2022.

"Despite negative global cues, the Indian equity benchmark indices showed firmness in Wednesday’s session, led by better than expected macro data and cabinet’s approval to raise MSP for Kharif crops," Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking Ltd told Moneycontrol.

"Throughout the day, markets remained volatile and the Nifty index swung both ways touching an intra-day low of 10,678 in the first half, however it bounced back smartly to touch an intra-day high of 10,777 before closing the session 0.7% higher at 10,770 levels," he said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 266.80 points at 35,645.40 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rallied 70 points to 10,769.90 but the market breadth was weak. About 1,338 shares declined against 1,256 advancing shares on the BSE.

The broader market indices, BSE Midcap & Smallcap, underperformed the benchmark. The sectoral indices exhibited a mixed trend, wherein Auto, Banks, and Healthcare were the top gainers up by 0.7-1.3%, while Power, IT and Consumer Durables were laggards.

Sectorally, the S&P BSE Auto index rose 1.3 percent, followed by the S&P BSE Healthcare index which gained 0.8 percent, and the S&P BSE Banking index was up 0.69 percent.

On the losing front, the S&P BSE IT index slipped 0.6 percent, and the S&P BSE Power index was down 0.54 percent, and the S&P BSE Consumer Durable index closed 0.51 percent lower.

Top Sensex gainers include stocks like Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC, HUL, and RIL.

Top Sensex losers include stocks like Vedanta, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Power Grid, and Infosys.