Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, were trading in the green in morning trade on Thursday as gains from crude oil prices and select banking stocks were offset by losses in IT and FMCG shares amid Assembly poll results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.


At 10 am, the BSE Sensex rose by 100 points to 62,511, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 18,597, up 37 points.


On the 30-share Sensex platform, Axis Bank was the major gainer. The others were IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, M&M, Larsen & Toubro. On the flip side, Kotak Bank, HUL, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Power Grid, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's and Wipro declined.






In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices rose up to 0.4 per cent.


Within sectors, the Nifty PSB index rallied 1 per cent to become the top sectoral winner, while IT and Pharma pockets were the sole players in red.


"Even while reaffirming that the Indian economy is doing well in a world of slowing growth and inflation fears, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das indicated that the global spillovers are slowing down India’s economic momentum," V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services said. "The PSU banking space, particularly the leading names, is likely to remain resilient. Capital goods stocks are showing strength," he said.


The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday hiked the key repo rate by 35 basis points, the fifth straight increase since May, raising prospects of EMIs for home, auto and other loans rising further.


The economic "growth in India remains resilient, and inflation is expected to moderate," Das said. "But the battle against inflation is not over." The RBI retained its 6.7 per cent inflation forecast for the current fiscal year ending March but lowered economic growth expectation to 6.8 per cent from the 7 per cent forecast previously.


In the previous session on Wednesday, Sensex ended 215.68 points (0.34 per cent) lower at 62,410.68. Similarly, the broader Nifty fell 82 points (0.44 per cent) to 18,560.50.


Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,241.87 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.


Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated 19 paise to 82.28 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday in line with its Asian peers and a slide in crude oil prices.


Forex traders said muted domestic equities and foreign fund outflows weighed on the local unit and restricted the appreciation bias.


At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.34 against the dollar, then gained further ground to touch 82.28, registering a rise of 19 paise over its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee pared initial losses and settled marginally higher at 82.47 against the US dollar.