Sensex rises 139 points to 34,295 level, Nifty breaches 10,550 on higher Asian markets; PNB top BSE loser

The market opened on a positive note on Thursday amid Asian markets trading in the green.  

While the Sensex was trading 139 points higher at 34,295 level, the Nifty was up 42 points to 10,542.

Punjab National Bank, which plunged 9.81% yesterday on detection of fraudulent transactions worth $1.77 billion (about Rs 11,335 crore) fell further 8.09% today to 134 level. The stock was the top loser on BSE bankex which was trading 66.21 points or 0.23% higher at 28,675 level.

The BSE consumer durables index was trading 104 points or 0.49 percent lower and was the sole loser among the 19 sectoral indices.

Metal and IT indices strengthened the market rising 114 points or 0.75% and 98 points or 0.82%, respectively.

Adani Ports (2.33%), ICICI Bank (1.96%), and Tata Motors (1.14%) were the top Sensex gainers

Market breadth was positive with 1051 stocks rising against 500 falling on BSE. 42 stocks were unchanged.

On Wednesday, the Sensex ended 144.52 points or 0.42 per cent down at 34,155.95 in a volatile trading session.

The NSE Nifty settled the day 38.85 points or 0.37 per cent lower at 10,500.90 after shuttling between 10,590.55 and 10,456.65, intra-day.

Global markets

Asian stocks gained on Thursday after Wall Street brushed aside strong US inflation data and surged, in a move that also saw the dollar pinned at two-week lows even as Treasury yields jumped in anticipation of more rapid US interest rate hikes.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1 percent.

Australian stocks climbed 0.9 percent and South Korea's KOSPI added 1.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei advanced 1.62 percent or 340 points following three successive days of losses that took it to a four-month low the previous day. Hang Seng was trading 2 percent or 608 points higher at 31,124 level.

Wall Street surged on Wednesday, with the Dow up 1 percent and the S&P 500 climbing 1.34 percent, as investors shrugged off the stronger-than-expected inflation data and snapped up shares of Facebook, Amazon.com and Apple.

US consumer prices rose more than forecast in January as Americans paid more for gasoline, rental accommodation and healthcare, further raising inflation concerns and the prospect of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates more than initially expected.

That drove US Treasury yields on most maturities higher on Wednesday, with those on benchmark 10-year notes hitting a four-year high.