New Delhi: The key equity benchmarks opened half a per cent higher on Wednesday amid broad-based buying.
The BSE Sensex surged over 400 points in early trade, tracking gains in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank amid a positive trend in global markets.
The 30-share index jumped 449.23 points (0.80 per cent) to 56,768.24 in the opening trade. Similarly, the Nifty advanced 134.95 points (0.80 per cent) to 16,905.80.
IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, and M&M.
Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises opened 2.24 per cent higher at Rs 355.60 on Wednesday on the BSE after the board of directors of the entertainment major approved the binding agreement with Sony Pictures Networks India, a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
On the other hand, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, Wipro, and Nestle India were among the laggards.
In the previous session, the 30-share equity benchmark rose 497 points or 0.89 per cent to end at 56,319.01, and Nifty surged 156.65 points or 0.94 per cent to 16,770.85.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,209.82 crore on Tuesday, according to stock exchange data.
The positive global backdrop provided by the recovery in the US and European markets might aid the bulls, but this is not sufficient to take the markets much higher. Nifty is unlikely to reach near the October high of 18,604 anytime soon, said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Even though FII selling has come down, they are likely to press sale if the market goes up meaningfully, he added.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals.
Stock exchanges in the US ended on a positive note in the overnight session.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.24 per cent to $74.16 per barrel.