Stock Market: Sensex Rises 300 Points; Nifty Around 19,600 On Strong Asian Cues. Auto, Realty Gain

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Motors, M&M, Airtel, Maruti, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, ITC were among the lead gainers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday started trade on a positive note, tracking strong gains in Asian peers. At 9.50 am, the BSE Sensex was up 291 points to 65,804. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 19,597, up 85 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Motors, M&M, Airtel, Maruti, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, ITC were among the lead gainers. On the downside, TCS, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, HUL, IndusInd Bank, and HDFC Bank emerged early losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index went up 0.8 per cent, while the Smallcap added 0.9 per cent.

Sectorally, all the indices are trading in the green with auto, realty, and PSU Bank rose 1-2 per cent.

In the previous session on Monday, the S&P BSE Sensex plunged 483 points to close at 65,512, while NSE Nifty50 settled at 19,512, down 141 points.

In Asian market, Nikkei surged over 2 per cent. Hang Seng was up over a per cent. Kospi and Taiwan gained more than 0.5 per cent each. Shanghai, however, was down 0.6 per cent. Overnight, the US market, reversed losses and advanced around 0.5 per cent as two Fed officials hinted that interest rates may remain stable in the near term.

Brent Crude was seen consolidating around the $88-mark.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said remarks by Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Lorie Logan were seen as indicating a surge in long-term Treasury yields that may mean the central bank has less need to further raise interest rates.

On Monday, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 997.76 crore, according to data available with the BSE.

Meanwhile, the rupee rose 4 paise to 83.24 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, helped by positive equity market trends even as concerns remained over the conflict in the Middle East. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.23 and stayed in the narrow range of 83.23 and 83.25 against the greenback. It later traded at 83.24 against the dollar, registering a rise of 4 paise over its previous close.

On Monday, the rupee slipped 1 paise to settle at 83.28 against the US dollar. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.02 per cent lower at 106.07.