Stock Market: Sensex Rises Over 350 Points, Nifty Trades Above 17,400 Amid Mixed Cues. Metal Index Leads

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Steel, M&M, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, TCS, Tata Motors emerged early winners. On the flip side, only PowerGrid was the only loser

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday edged higher in early morning trade tracking mixed global cues.

At 9.40 am, the BSE Sensex climbed 369 points to 59,331 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty was trading at 17,409, up 106 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Steel, M&M, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, TCS, Tata Motors emerged early winners. On the flip side, only PowerGrid was the only loser.

Among individual stocks, shares of Axis Bank gained over 1 per cent after the private sector lender completed acquisition of Citibank India's consumer business. Besides, shares of Zee Media surged over 4 per cent after wholly-owned subsidiary, Zee Media Americas LLC was incorporated in Delaware, USA.

In the broader markets, Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 indices rose up to 0.4 per cent.

Sectorwise, Nifty Metal index gained the most - up over 2 per cent, whereas Nifty Media, and Nifty FMCG indices were subdued in trade.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the Sensex closed 326 points lower at 58,962, while the Nifty eventually settled 89 points lower at 17,304.

"Markets are likely to extend caution in early trade on Wednesday as the bearish overseas cues would keep local investors guarded and may prompt selling in case the sentiment worsens later in the day. Amid a volley of headwinds, markets are likely to stay volatile with a negative bias, although the market is in oversold territory after eight straight sessions of losses. To make matters worse, FIIs continued to exit Indian markets, as they sold local shares to the tune of Rs 4,559 crore on Tuesday," Prashanth Tapse - research analyst, senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

In Asian markets, Japan, China, and Hong Kong were trading in the positive territory. The US markets had ended lower on Tuesday.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 4,559.21 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.75 per cent to $83.89 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee gained 22 paise to 82.36 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday amid a positive trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on the local unit and restricted the appreciation bias.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.48 against the dollar, then gained ground and rose to 82.36, registering a rise of 22 paise over its previous close. On Tuesday, the rupee closed at 82.58 against the US currency.