Mumbai, May 5

Market benchmark Sensex rose over 200 points in early trade on Wednesday, tracking gains in index majors HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Infosys ahead of the Reserve Bank chief's speech.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will make an unscheduled announcement at 10 am.

The 30-share BSE index jumped 266.09 points or 0.55 per cent to 48,519.60 in initial deals.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 81.45 points or 0.56 per cent to 14,577.95.

ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, gaining over 2 per cent, followed by NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Axis Bank and UltraTech Cement.

On the other hand, HDFC, Nestle India and HUL were among laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 465.01 points or 0.95 per cent lower at 48,253.51, and Nifty slumped 137.65 points or 0.94 per cent to 14,496.50.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,772.37 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 987.34 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong were trading flat in mid-session deals, while Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo were closed for holidays.

Equities on Wall Street ended on a negative note in overnight trade.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 2.61 per cent higher at USD 69.32 per barrel. PTI