Indices Open Higher; Sensex Gains 150 Points, Nifty Above 16,300

The benchmark indices opened higher on Wednesday amid mixed global cues. The BSE Sensex gained nearly 180 points to open at 54,544.9 while the NSE Nifty gained 60 points to open above 16.300 levels on Wednesday.

22 out of 30 stocks on Sensex opened in green with HDFC, Tata Steel, techMahindra, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank among major winners, with up to 1.4 per cent gain.

On the other hand, L&T,  Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paint, Infosys, Sunpharma, were among major losers, down up to 0.5 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices also gained up to 0.9 per cent.

On the NSE, HDFC Life, UPL, ONGC, Tata Steel, BPCL, were the major gainers, with up to 2.1 per cent gain while Asian Paint, Cipla, Hindustan Unilever, L&T, and Infosys were the top laggards, down up to 2 per cent.

Voda Idea, Adani Power, YES Bank among most active stocks on NSE.

Sectorally, Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, IT, were the major gainers, with up to 0.5 per cent gain while the Nifty FMCG was the sole loser, down marginally.

Earlier, Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 43 points, or 0.27 per cent, lower at 16,167.50, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a negative start on Wednesday.

The Indian rupee, meanwhile, opened 10 paise higher at 77.22 per dollar on Wednesday versus Tuesday's close of 77.32.

Asian shares edged higher on Wednesday from close to two-year lows hit in the previous session and the dollar held steady, ahead of keenly awaited U.S. inflation data that will offer a guide to how aggressively the U.S. Fed will raise rates.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.45%, trading marginally above its lowest level since July 2020 touched the day before. Japan's Nikkei gained 0.3%.

In the US, The Dow dipped 0.26 per cent, the S&P 500 inched 0.25 per cent higher, and the Nasdaq gained 0.98 per cent.