New Delhi: Sensex and Nifty, the key domestic equity benchmarks, on Wednesday started trade with gains tracking positive sentiments in the global market.
At 10.am the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 208 points, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 17,598, up 68 points.
Bajaj Twins, Tata steel, IndusInd Bank, ITC, Axis Bank, L&T, Bharti Airtel, Reliance, and Infosys were the top winners on the Sensex, while ONGC, Coal India, JSW Steel, and UPL were the top Nifty gainers.
On the flip side, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy's, Titan, Divis Labs, SBI Life, and Cipla were the top laggards on the two indices.
Midcap and smallcap shares were trading on a strong note as Nifty Midcap 100 gained 0.82 per cent and smallcap shares surged 1.07 per cent.
All the 15 sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, were trading in the green. Nifty Metal and Nifty FMCG were outperforming the index by rising as much as 0.70 per cent and 1.39 per cent, respectively.vNifty IT, Banks, and Auto were other notable gainers.
In the previous trade, the Sensex declined 388 points (0.66 per cent) to settle at 58,576. The Nifty went lower by 144 points (0.82 per cent) to finish at 17,530.
Meanwhile, retail inflation soared to a 17-month high of 6.95 per cent in March, and remained above the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance level, while factory output grew just 1.7 per cent in February, according to official data released on Tuesday.
In Asia, markets were trading mostly higher, with Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo quoting in the green, while Shanghai was marginally lower in mid-session deals.
Stocks in the US ended marginally lower on Tuesday.
International oil benchmark Brent crude gained marginally by 0.05 per cent to $104.69 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors continued to offload shares worth Rs 3,128.39 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.