Markets climb in early trade; Sensex advances nearly 300 points

Mumbai: Benchmark indices started on a positive note on Friday in-line with optimism in the US market and buying in Reliance Industries.

The BSE Sensex climbed 297.25 points to 59,903.05 points after a positive start. The NSE Nifty advanced 88.5 points to 17,599.75 points.

In the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Maruti and ITC were the laggards.

In Asian markets, South Korea, China and Hong Kong quoted lower, while Japan traded in the green.

The US markets ended higher on Thursday.

”Mirroring the optimism in the overnight US markets and subsequent uptick in SGX Nifty, local equities could see a positive opening. However, there is an element of uncertainty post FOMC minutes. Minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s February meeting suggests that a few policymakers made the case for a 50 basis point rate hike,” Prashanth Tapse – Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said before the market opened for trade.

On Thursday, the Sensex declined 139.18 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 59,605.80 points. The Nifty slipped 43.05 points or 0.25 per cent to end at 17,511.25 points.

International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.77 per cent to USD 82.84 per barrel.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 1,417.24 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.