Sensex rises over 100 points in early trade; Nifty near 15,850

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark Sensex advanced over 100 points in early trade on Wednesday, tracking gains in index heavyweights HDFC twins, Asian Paints at TCS.

After starting on a negative note, the 30-share BSE index turned positive to trade 119.36 points or 0.23 per cent higher at 52,980.54 in initial deals.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 25.10 points or 0.16 per cent to 15,843.35. HDFC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising nearly 2 per cent, followed by Asian Paints, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti and HDFC Bank.

On the other hand, Titan, M&M, UltraTech Cement, HUL and Tech Mahindra were among the laggards. In the previous session, Sensex ended 18.82 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 52,861.18, and Nifty fell 16.10 points or 0.1 per cent to 15,818.25.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 543.30 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional exchange data.

Notably, sharp rise in crude prices and strengthening dollar index weighed on sentiments in recent weeks.

Accordingly, FIIs have turned out as large net sellers, said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

However, improving business momentum with ease of business curbs started offering comfort, he added. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.15 per cent to USD 74.42 per barrel.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading in the red in mid-session deals, while Shanghai was in the positive territory. US equities ended mixed as supply chain bottlenecks started weighing on the economy, Modi said.