Sensex Jumps Over 500 Points, Nifty Trades Above 17,100; RIL, Maruti Lead Gainers

Reliance, Maruti, TCS, HDFC, Wipro, M&M, NTPC, Titan, Dr Reddy's, Bharti Airtel, Tech M, Infosys, and Nestle were the top winners on the Sensex, up 1-3 per cent

New Delhi: Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Wednesday opened higher in early trade led by gains in Reliance, Maruti, and IT stocks.

At 10 am, the 30-share Sensex platform was up 505 points to 56,968, while the NSE Nifty was trading at 17,112, up 154 points.

Reliance, Maruti, TCS, HDFC, Wipro, M&M, NTPC, Titan, Dr Reddy's, Bharti Airtel, Tech M, Infosys, and Nestle were the top winners on the Sensex, up 1-3 per cent.

On the other hand, Kotak Bank, PowerGrid, L&T, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj finance, Axis Bank, NTPC, Tata Steel, Apollo Hospitals, HDFC Life, and ONGC were the top losers on the two indices.

The broader markets also opened in the positive zone. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up to 0.3 per cent higher.

10 out of the 15 sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, were trading in the green. Nifty Auto, Nifty IT and and Nifty FMCG were outperforming the index by rising as much as 2.22 per cent, 1.24 per cent and 1.14 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, Nifty Bank and Financials were subdued.

On Tuesday, Sensex finished 703 points (1.23 per cent) lower at 56,463 points. NSE Nifty declined 215 points (1.25 per cent) to settle at 16,958 points.

"Traders will be taking encouragement as describing the Indian economy's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as distinct and pronounced. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman exuded confidence about India posting robust economic growth this decade," according to Mohit Nigam, Head, PMS at Hem Securities.

Describing the Indian economy's recovery from the pandemic as 'distinct' and 'pronounced', Sitharaman has exuded confidence about India posting robust economic growth this decade.

Meanwhile, in Asia, markets in Hong Kong, and Tokyo were trading in the green in mid-session deals, while Seoul, Shanghai quoted lower. Global stock markets were under pressure on worries about the fallout from China's pandemic lockdowns

Stocks in the US had ended significantly higher on Tuesday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude 1.03 per cent to $108.4 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree, offloading shares worth a net Rs 5,871.69 crore on Tuesday, according to stock exchange data.