Sensex, Nifty rise in early trade on firm global cues

Benchmark indices rose in early trade today led by buying in IT counters and an overall positive trend in global markets. After a firm start, the Sensex climbed 144.85 points to 59,433.20. The NSE Nifty advanced 35.55 points to 17,428.25.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC, Wipro, Titan and HDFC Bank were the top Sensex gainers.

State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and IndusInd Bank were among the top Sensex losers.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said, “Sustained FII selling (Rs 5488 crores in the last 4 days) will act as a drag on the market in the near-term. Weak participation by retail/HNIs have emboldened FIIs to press sales on every mild rally. This trend might continue. But a significant feature of the market trend is the strength being exhibited by the banking sector. Smart money is chasing fundamentally strong banking names.”

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,022.52 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee gained 11 paise to 82.68 against the US dollar in early trade as the American currency retreated from its elevated levels.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.69 against the dollar and marginally rose to 82.68, registering a rise of 11 paise over its previous close amid a positive trend in domestic equities. On Monday, the rupee closed at 82.79 against the US currency.

Previous session 

Bears continued to dominate Dalal Street as domestic equity markets kicked off the week on a sombre note on Monday. The 30-share pack BSE Sensex declined 175.88 points or 0.30 per cent, to 59,288.35 and Nifty50 shed 73.10 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 17,392.70. Broader markets underperformed the headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices shed over a per cent each. Fear gauge India VIX dropped more than 2 per cent to 13.87-level.  

Global markets  

In Asian markets, South Korea, Japan, China and Hong Kong were trading in the positive territory. The US markets had ended higher on Monday.

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