Sensex Rises Over 180 Pts in Early Trade on Easing Inflation, Firm Cues

Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 180 points in early trade on Tuesday, as easing retail inflation triggered buying sentiment in the market.

Besides, a firm trend on other Asian bourses also supported the uptick in domestic equities, brokers said.

The 30-share Sensex was trading 186.98 points or 0.32 per cent higher at 58,364.74. Similarly, Nifty advanced 54.65 points or 0.31 per cent to 17,409.95 in initial deals.

Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 0.78 per cent, followed by Dr Reddy’s, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, PowerGrid and UltraTech Cement were trading with losses.

Subdued prices of food items like vegetables pulled down retail inflation for the third month in a row to 5.3 per cent in August, within the Reserve Bank of India's comfort zone.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation declined to 5.3 per cent in August from 6.69 per cent in the same month a year ago, food inflation dipped at a much faster pace to 3.11 per cent from 9.05 per cent in August 2020.

In the previous session, the Sensex ended 127.31 points or 0.22 per cent lower at 58,177.76. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 13.95 points or 0.08 per cent to 17,355.30.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,419.31 crore on Monday, as per provisional exchange data.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong were trading with gains in mid-session deals.

US equities ended largely in positive territory in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry has declared that the number of active Covid-19 cases in the country currently stands at 3,62,207. A single-day rise of 25,404 new infections and 339 fatalities has pushed India's infection tally to 3,32,89,579, and death toll to 4,43,213.