Markets open higher, Sensex gains over 250 points; Nifty above 10,600

NEW DELHI: Markets open higher on Wednesday with the benchmark BSE Sensex rising over 250 points and the broader NSE Nifty trading above 10,600. Both the indices turned positive after state election results and RBI governor's appointment. The government appointed former economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das as the new Reserve Bank chief on Tuesday just a day after Urjit Patel resigned citing "personal reasons".

Sensex surged 251 points or 0.71 per cent to 35,401, while Nifty gained 77 points or 0.73 per cent to 10,627 in early trade.

On BSE, Yes Bank, Hero MortorCorp, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Steel were among the major gainers, rising as much as 4.45 per cent. On the NSE platform, all the sub-indices were trading in green with Nifty Auto outperforming the index, up 1.95 per cent.

Meanwhile, the rupee weakened slightly on the back of sharp gains in global crude oil prices. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 72.03 per dollar versus its previous close of 71.84 after initially dropping as low as 72.20 at the open.

Asian stock markets edged ahead as US President Donald trump sounded upbeat about a trade deal with China, while sterling struggled with talk of an imminent party coup against British Prime Minister Theresa May.

(With inputs from agencies)