Sensex surges 148 points to 71,971, Nifty climbs to 21,884

The markets opened positively on Thursday, with both the Sensex and Nifty rising in early trade, tracking positive cues from Asian and global markets.

The 30-share benchmark Sensex gained 115.89 points, or 0.16 per cent to reach 71,938.72 points, while the broader Nifty climbed 36.90 points, or 0.17 per cent to 21,876.95 points.

In the Sensex pack, Mahindra and Mahindra, NTPC, Tata Steel, Wipro, and Infosys were among the gainers, while Reliance Industries and Maruti Suzuki were trading marginally lower.

According to Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, equities in Asia started higher on Thursday following a rally on Wall Street, driven by robust earnings that helped alleviate concerns about persistent inflation. Despite early weakness, all three major US stock indexes finished higher on Wednesday, as investors reassessed the impact of US inflation data from the previous session.

On Wednesday, the domestic equity market reversed its early losses and closed in positive territory. The Sensex gained 267.64 points, or 0.37 per cent to close at 71,822.83 points, while the Nifty rose 96.80 points, or 0.45 per cent to end the day at 21,840.05 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers on Wednesday, offloading shares worth Rs 3,929.60 crore, according to exchange data.