Sensex rises nearly 200 points in early trade; Nifty tops 11,550

MUMBAI: Domestic equity benchmark Sensex jumped nearly 200 points in early trade on Friday tracking gains in index majors TCS, Reliance Industries and Sun Pharma amid positive cues from Asian peers.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 186.37 points or 0.48 per cent higher at 39,166.22; while the NSE Nifty rose 62.70 points or 0.54 per cent to 11,578.80.

Sun Pharma was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, TCS, Titan, PowerGrid, NTPC, Reliance Industries and Asian Paints.

On the other hand, HUL, Bajaj Auto, Maruti and Nestle India were among the laggards. In the previous session, Sensex ended 323 points or 0.82 per cent lower at 38,979.85, while Nifty fell 88.45 points or 0.76 per cent to 11,516.10.

Meanwhile, exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 249.82 crore on a net basis on Thursday.

According to traders, positive start in Asian equities nudged domestic stocks higher. Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading with gains in mid-day deals. However, stock exchanges on Wall Street ended on a negative note in overnight trade. Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.46 per cent higher at USD 43.50 per barrel.