Sensex, Nifty rise in early trade; Axis Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC top gainers

While the Sensex was trading 42 points or 0.12% higher at 36,694, the Nifty gained 30 points or 0.26% at 11,096 level. Top Sensex gainers were Axis Bank (1.10%), Tata Steel (1.01%) and HDFC (0.72%).

Sensex, Nifty rise in early trade; Axis Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC top gainers
Sensex, Nifty rise in early trade; Axis Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC top gainers

The Sensex and Nifty opened higher in morning trade amid Asian stocks rising ahead of a third interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve this year.

While the Sensex was trading 42 points or 0.12% higher at 36,694, the Nifty gained 30 points or 0.26% at 11,096 level. Top Sensex gainers were Axis Bank (1.10%), Tata Steel (1.01%) and HDFC (0.72%).

Wipro (1.82%), ONGC (1.10%) and Adani Ports (1%) were the top Sensex losers.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 72.70 per dollar against previous close of 72.69.

On the BSE, Dewan Housing Finance was the top loser falling 4.97% to 285.75.   On Tuesday, the stock closed 23.49% or 92 points lower at 300.70 level.

Meanwhile, the BSE midcap index gained 0.39% and small cap index was trading 0.40% higher.

Among BSE sectoral indices, consumer durables stocks were the top gainers with the index rising 0.94% to 20,014. Other gainers were BSE Capital goods index (0.65%), BSE auto (0.54%) and BSE bankex (0.40%) indices.

Market breadth was positive with 1096 stocks trading higher against 476 falling on the BSE.

Global markets

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose less than 0.1 percent to 23,953.98. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, which reopened after a holiday, jumped 1.5 percent to 27,914.26. The Shanghai Composite Index rallied 1.4 percent to 2,818.88. Australia's S&P ASX 200 added 0.1 percent to 6,192.30. Shares fell in Taiwan but rose in Singapore and Indonesia. Markets were closed in South Korea for a national holiday.

US benchmarks finished mixed on Tuesday as rising interest rates hurt stocks that pay big dividends. Higher oil prices pulled transportation and shipping companies lower. The S&P 500 index lost 0.1 percent to 2,915.56, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.3 percent to 26,492.21. The Nasdaq composite was 0.2 percent higher at 8,007.47. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gained 0.2 percent to 1,708.80.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is expected raise its benchmark interest rate to between 2-2.25 percent in its ninth increase since late 2015. Another increase is expected later this year, with more to come in 2019.