The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday extended their gains on a firm note, taking positive cues from the global market and foreign fund inflows. The domestic indices went up in early morning trade due to buying trends in IT counters.
At 10.15 am, the BSE Sensex gained 158 points to 58,508, while the broader NSE Nifty was up 49 points to 17,437.
On the 30-share Sensex constituents, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Dr Reddy's, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance, and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers. On the flip side, NTPC, State Bank of India, Maruti Suzuki India, Reliance Industries, and Titan were among the laggards.
On the BSE platform, out of 30 constituents, 21 scrips were advancing, while nine were declining during early trade on Thursday.
In the broader markets, both Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 climbed up to 0.8 per cent.
On NSE, Nifty IT and Nifty Metal were leading, while Nifty Realty was the sore sectoral loser.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex ended 214 points (0.37 per cent) higher at 58,350, while the Nifty went up by 42 points (0.25 per cent) to 17,388.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading in the green. The US markets had ended significantly higher on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.24 per cent to $97.02 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital markets as they bought shares worth Rs 765.17 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.
“In India, FPIs turning buyers has changed the sentiments in favour of the bulls. The market momentum is so strong that it is overpowering negatives like higher valuations and rising trade deficit. If FPI buying sustains, the market may continue to remain resilient, but investors should exercise some caution,” said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.