Sensex Rises Over 250 Points, Nifty Trades Above 15,850; Bank, Auto Stocks Climb
Indian equity benchmarks on Wednesday traded higher in opening deals, led by gains in bank, automobile and technology stocks. Stocks in Asia slipped as concerns about a global recession remain.
Overnight, European stocks dropped 2 per cent and the euro plunged more than 1.5 per cent to $1.0236, its lowest since late 2002. The U.S. dollar stood tall, holding at a 20-year peak.
Trends on the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) indicated a cautious start for the domestic indices.
The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 267 points or 0.49 per cent to 53,397 in the early session, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 58 points or 0.36 per cent higher to trade at 15,868.
Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a strong note as Nifty Midcap 100 climbed 0.61 per cent and small-cap rose 0.50 per cent.
12 out of the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the National Stock Exchange — were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Bank, Nifty Auto and Nifty IT were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 0.89 per cent, 0.98 per cent and 0.51 per cent, respectively.
On the stock-specific front, Asian Paints was the top Nifty gainer as the stock soared 2.62 per cent to ₹ 2,839. Bajaj Finance, Eicher Motors, BPCL and Hero MotoCorp were also among the gainers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,570 shares were advancing while 698 were declining on BSE.
On the 30-share BSE index, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, L&T, SBI, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, ITC, UltraTech Cement and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top gainers.
Also, shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s biggest insurer and largest domestic financial investor, rose 0.92 per cent to trade at ₹ 709.30.
In contrast, Tata Steel, NTPC and PowerGrid were trading in the red.
Sensex had declined 100 points or 0.19 per cent lower to close at 53,134 on Tuesday, while Nifty had moved 25 points or 0.15 per cent lower to settle at 15,811.