Stock markets: Aided by the buying in index major Reliance Industries, equity benchmark indices climbed in early trade on Wednesday. Gains were however restricted amid unabated foreign fund outflows from the equity markets and mixed trends in global markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 74.43 points to 66,005.20 in early trade. The Nifty went up by 26.15 points to 19,809.55.
Among the Sensex firms, Power Grid, Titan, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Nestle and ITC were the biggest gainers. Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank and JSW Steel were the major laggards.
Asian and US markets
In Asian markets, Tokyo traded in the green while Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted lower. The US markets ended in negative territory on Tuesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.16 per cent to USD 82.32 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 455.59 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
"The uptrend in the market is intact with global support coming from the easing US bond yields. The US 10-year bond yield at 4 per cent is a strong pillar of support for equity markets. Resilience in large-caps like RIL, Bharti and HDFC Bank can continue to support the uptrend," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, as reported by news agency PTI.
Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar
The rupee was trading in a narrow range against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, amid a muted trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said the rupee was trading in a narrow range as sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.31 against the dollar and then touched a high of 83.30, and a low of 83.32 against the greenback.
(With inputs from PTI)
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