Sensex rises 158 points in early trade

Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex staged a strong come back in early trade today gaining over 158 points on widespread buying by participants in banking, auto, pharma and oil and gas stocks. Asian stocks notched moderate gains, tracking sizable increases seen on Wall Street overnight also boosted the sentiments.

The 30-share index was trading higher by 158.35 points or 0.46 percent at 33,970.61. All the sectoral indices led by metal, consumer durables, power, bank, and infrastructure were trading in the green with gains up to 0.79 percent. The 30-share Sensex had lost 244.57 points in the previous two sessions. Also, the NSE Nifty went up by 43.30 points or 0.41 percent to 10.485.50. Major gainers were ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, SBI, Adani Ports, TCS, Tata Steel and Power Grid, rising up to 1.84per cent.

Brokers said buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and foreign funds amid a firm trend at other Asian bourses following yet another record close on Wall Street improved the market sentiment. In the Asian region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.23per cent and Shanghai Composite Index by 0.82 percent in early trade. Japan’s Nikkei remained closed today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.42 per cent higher yesterday.