Share Market Update: Domestic benchmark indices opened in green on Wednesday morning with BSE Sensex rising over 100 points led by gains in banking stocks amid continued buying by foreign investors. The 30-share index was trading 134.95 points or 0.36 per cent, higher at 37,670.61. Likewise, the 50-share NSE Nifty surged 22.10 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 11,323.30. Top gainers in early trade include HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, HUL, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, RIL, SBI and Infosys, rising up to 2.58 per cent. While, ONGC, NTPC, Coal India, Vedanta and Bharti Airtel fell up to 2.17 per were trading in the red.

Both Sensex and Nifty extended gains for the third session which was driven by positive factors including sustained foreign fund inflows, strengthening of Indian currency against US dollar and chances of the incumbent NDA government coming for a second term, news agency PTI quoted market experts as saying.

The provisional data available with the BSE stated that on a net basis, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 2,477.72 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 990.48 crore.

However, investors turned cautious, capping gains on bourses, after retail inflation jumped to a four-month high of 2.57 per cent in February. Traders also turned cautious due to the fall of industrial growth to 1.7 per cent on account of manufacturing sector slowdown.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) expanded by just 1.7 per cent in January, significantly down from 7.5 per cent growth in the year-ago month, as per the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). On Tuesday, the BSE gauge settled 481.56 points or 1.30 per cent, higher at 37,535.66. The broader Nifty closed with gains of 133.15 points, or 1.19 per cent, at 11,301.20.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.59 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.37 per cent, Kospi shed 0.88 per cent, and Japan's Nikkei cracked 1.35 per cent in early trade.