Domestic stock markets started Wednesday's session on a positive note, a day after the benchmark nse Nifty 50 benchmark index registered a new three-month high. The S&P BSE Sensex index opened 249.31 points higher at 35,679.74, whereas the broader Nifty benchmark started the day at 10,529.25, up 58.25 points from the previous close. The markets however gave up half of those gains in the first few minutes of trade. At 9:30 am, the Sensex traded 133.77 points - or 0.38 per cent - higher at 35,564.20 while the Nifty was up 56.05 points - or 0.54 per cent - at 10,527.05.
Equities in other Asian markets crept to a four-month high as investors remained upbeat on the outlook for a re-opening of the global economy even as cases of the coronavirus looked to be accelerating to new peaks.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.58 per cent higher, while Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark was up 0.12 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite index was up 0.27 per cent at the time, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's KOSPI indices were up 0.07 per cent and 1.43 per cent respectively.
The E-Mini S&P 500 futures were up 0.08 per cent, indicating a flat to positive start for Wall Street on Wednesday.
Overnight in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.5 per cent higher, the S&P 500 gained 0.43 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite 0.74 per cent.
Earlier that day, the Sensex ended 519.11 points - or 1.49 per cent - higher at 35,430.43, and the Nifty settled at 10,471.00, up 159.80 points - or 1.55 per cent - from its previous close.
