Sensex rises over 100 points in opening trade; Nifty tops 17,500

Equity benchmark Sensex rose over 100 points in opening trade on Wednesday, tracking gains in IT stocks amid sustained foreign fund inflow.

Mumbai:Equity benchmark Sensex rose over 100 points in opening trade on Wednesday, tracking gains in IT stocks amid sustained foreign fund inflow.

The 30-share Sensex, however, turned choppy to trade 36.75 points or 0.06 per cent lower at 58,968.52. Similarly, Nifty slipped 10.45 points or 0.06 per cent to 17,551.55 in initial deals.

HDFC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 1 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Nestle India, HDFC Bank and HUL. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, M&M, Titan and HCL Tech were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the 30-share index ended 514.34 points or 0.88 per cent higher at 59,005.27, while Nifty surged 165.10 points or 0.95 per cent to 17,562. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,041.92 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional exchange data.

"Domestic equities look to be soft as of now. Notably, yesterday's recovery in equities and strong inflow from DIIs and FIIs shows that markets have discounted possible fallout from likely default of Chinese real estate giant Evergrande, while Thursday would be crucial as USD 83 million interest payment is due for Evergrande on the day," Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities, said.

However, considering increasing possibility of earnings downgrade in the USA markets following a sharp rise in coronavirus daily caseload and continued reform measures undertaken by the government in India appear to have revived FIIs' interest in the domestic market, he noted.

US equities finished mixed in overnight session with Dow and S&P 500 extending losses for the fourth consecutive day as investors remained wary ahead of Fed meeting outcome and possible fallout from Evergrande's defaults.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Tokyo were trading with losses. Hong Kong and Seoul markets remained closed. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.98 per cent to USD 75.09 per barrel.

(PTI)