Sensex Rises 160 Points in Early Trade, Nifty Tests 15,700

Sensex jumped 160.07 points or 0.31 per cent in early trade on Thursday, tracking gains in heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC Bank, amid a positive trend in global equities.

The broader NSE Nifty also advanced 58.75 points or 0.38 per cent to 15,694.10, as India's Covid-19 tally kept falling, with 94,052 new cases and 6,148 fatalities in the last 24 hours, according to a Union health ministry alert.

Rupee opened flat, slipping 1 paisa to 72.98 against the dollar.

The 30-share BSE index was trading at 52,101.71 in initial deals, led by gains to PowerGrid, which rose around 2 per cent, followed by ITC, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy’s. Among the laggards were Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Maruti and Nestle India.

On Wednesday, Sensex had ended 333.93 points or 0.64 per cent lower at 51,941.64, while Nifty had slumped 104.75 points or 0.67 per cent to 15,635.35.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 846.37 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data.

Domestic equities look to be good as of now. Previous session’s selling pressure was due to profit booking ahead of crucial US CPI data and European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting outcome, said Binod Modi, head of strategy at Reliance Securities.

“While sharp drop in daily caseload and phased withdrawal of business curbs by the states have significantly improved prospects of economic recovery, the government’s decision to increase MSPs for several Kharif crops is a sensible move to enhance rural income,” he noted.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals. US equities finished lower as they booked profits ahead of crucial May inflation data.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.72 per cent lower at $71.70 per barrel.