Markets rise in early trade

A traffic signal is in the foreground of the Bombay Stock Exchange on Dalal Street.
| Photo Credit: Paul Noronha

Equity benchmark indices continued their rally in early trade on Wednesday amid buying in banking counters, a largely positive trend in other Asian markets and continuous foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 183.9 points to 62,865.74 points in early trade. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 61.5 points to 18,679.55 points.

Among the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr. Reddy’s, Tata Steel, Nestle, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers.

HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Power Grid were among the laggards.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading higher while in Tokyo, shares were trading lower.

Wall Street had ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.

“An important feature of the ongoing rally which has taken the Sensex and Nifty to record highs is that this is a mature rally led by high-quality stocks in performing sectors,” V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Also, the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech on Wednesday will be closely watched by global markets for cues on rate hike trajectory.

The 30-share BSE benchmark gained 177.04 points or 0.28% to settle at 62,681.84, its fresh record closing high on Tuesday. The Nifty advanced 55.30 points or 0.30% to end at 18,618.05, its fresh record closing high.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.95% higher at $83.87 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth ₹1,241.57 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data.