Stock Market: Sensex Gains 144 Points, Nifty Trades Around 17,000 On Mixed Cues. Bank, Auto Stocks Lead

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, M&M, HUL, Tata Motors, HCL, Bajaj Finserv, TechM emerged early winners

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday opened in the green amid mixed global cues.

At 9.35 am, the BSE Sensex rose 144 points to 57,758. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 17007, up 55 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, M&M, HUL, Tata Motors, HCL, Bajaj Finserv, TechM emerged early winners. On the flip side, Reliance, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, and Infosys were the laggards.

Among individual stocks, shares of Jindal Stainless surged over 2 per cent after the stainless steel firm signed an agreement with New Yaking Pte to set up a nickel pig iron smelter in Indonesia.

In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices surging up to 0.1 per cent.

Volatility gauge, India VIX, meanwhile, slipped over 2 per cent.

Sectorwise, Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto indices led the charge as they gained up to 0.7 per cent, while Nifty Realty and Nifty PSU Bank indices were bogged down in trade.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE Sensex was down 40.14 points (0.07 per cent) to end at 57,613. On the other hand, the Nifty closed at 16,951, down 34 points (0.20 per cent).

In Asian markets, Japan, and Hong Kong were trading in the green while Seoul and Shanghai quoted lower. The US markets ended lower on Tuesday.

"In the absence of near-term cues, the market is likely to remain range-bound for some days before taking a new direction. Cues from the mother market US on inflation, the Fed response and the banking crisis related news will weigh on markets in the near-term," said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude advanced 0.19 per cent to $78.80 per barrel.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) turned buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,531.13 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee declined by 10 paise to 82.26 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday due to firm crude oil prices and a stronger greenback in overseas markets. Early gains in domestic stock markets however restricted the rupee losses against the dollar.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened lower at 82.26 against the previous close of 82.16.The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rebounded by 0.15 per cent to 102.58 in early Asian trade.