Sensex surges over 200 points in early trade
Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 200 points in early trade on Wednesday tracking gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC and ITC amid positive cues from global markets. The 30-share index was trading 205.60 points, or 0.59 per cent, higher at 35,121.40, while the NSE Nifty rose 51.90 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 10,354.
ITC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 2 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, SBI and Reliance Industries.
On the other hand, NTPC, Kotak Bank, L&T, ONGC and Nestle India were among the laggards.
In the previous session, the BSE barometer closed 45.72 points, or 0.13 per cent, down at 34,915.80; while the NSE Nifty slipped 10.30 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 10,302.10.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers on Tuesday, offloading equities worth Rs 2,000.08 crore, provisional exchange data showed.
According to traders, local indices followed gains in global benchmarks which rallied on positive macroeconomic numbers indicating a recovery in world economies.
Auto sales data will also be closely watched by the participants to access the pace of recovery in the domestic economy, they said.
Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with significant gains, while those in Tokyo were in the red.
Stock exchanges on Wall Street rallied over 1 per cent in overnight session on positive macroeconomic data.
International oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.14 per cent to USD 41.74 per barrel.
On the domestic front, India recorded a current account surplus of USD 0.6 billion or 0.1 per cent of GDP for the January-March quarter against a deficit of USD 4.6 billion or 0.7 per cent of GDP in the year-ago period, the Reserve Bank said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the fiscal deficit during the first two months of the current financial year widened to Rs 4.66 lakh crore or 58.6 per cent of the budget estimates mainly on account of poor tax collection due to coronavirus-induced lockdown.
