Sensex climbs over 150 points in early trade; Nifty above 17,200

Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 150 points in opening trade on Tuesday, tracking gains in index majors Maruti, Titan and Bajaj Finserv amid a mixed trend in global markets.

Starting on a positive note, the BSE gauge was trading 156.46 points or 0.27 per cent higher at 57,777.65 in early trade. Likewise, the Nifty surged 48.75 points or 0.28 per cent to 17,262.35.

Maruti was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing 1.83 per cent, followed by Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Dr Reddy’s, Tata Steel and Asian Paints. On the other hand, PowerGrid, TCS, SBI, NTPC and Infosys were among the losers.

In the previous session, the 30-share index ended 1,023.63 points or 1.75 per cent lower at 57,621.19. Similarly, the NSE Nifty slumped 302.70 points or 1.73 per cent to 17,213.60.

“Nifty has given up the recent gains swiftly and creates doubt about the strength of the upward recovery. The RBI MPC meeting outcome on February 10, could halt or accelerate this down move. Over the next few sessions Nifty could slow its speed of fall and consolidate,” Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities said, adding that in the near-term 17,062-17,410 could be the band for the Nifty.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong and Shanghai were trading with losses in mid-session deals, while Seoul and Tokyo were in the green.

“The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a minuscule gain in choppy trading on Monday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes each closed lower as investors digested a batch of quarterly results and turned their focus to this week’s consumer-price index reading,” Jasani noted.

Stock exchanges in the US closed on a mixed note in the overnight session. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.22 per cent to USD 92.49 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,157.23 crore on Monday, according to stock exchange data.