New Delhi: The key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday extended their gains sharply in early trade.
At 10.30 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 722 points to 53,696, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 16,065, up 223 points.
LIC, which was listed on the bourses on Tuesday, made a tepid debut. The stock was trading at Rs 899, down 5.24 per cent on the BSE, while on the NSE, LIC was trading at Rs 899.50, down 5.22 per cent, as against the issue price of Rs 949.
"LIC is making its debut today and can influence further direction of the market. Investors will be closely eyeing WPI data which is expected to be released later in the day," Mohit Nigam, head - PMS at Hem Securities, told the PTI.
On the BSE platform, all the 30 constituents were trading in the positive. Tata Steel was the lead gainer with 4.20 per cent, followed by ITC, Reliance, HUL, HCL Tech, L&T, and others.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices also opened in the green, soaring up to 0.7 per cent.
On NSE, 14 of the 15 sector gauges were trading in the green. Nifty Metal, Nifty Private Bank, and Nifty Oil & Gas were outperforming the index by rising as much as 2.55 per cent, 0.94 per cent and 1.23 per cent, respectively.
In the previous trade on Monday, the BSE Sensex gained 180 points (0.34 per cent) to end at 52,973 points, while the Nifty went up by 60 points (0.38 per cent) to finish at 15,842 points.
Meanwhile, in Asia, markets were trading in the positive zone, with Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai quoting higher.
In the US, stock exchanges had ended on a mixed note on Monday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.29 per cent to $113 per barrel.
According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to offload shares worth Rs 1,788.93 crore on Monday.