Sensex jumps over 250 pts in early trade; Nifty tops 15,800

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 250 points and touched a record intra-day high of 52,578.07 in early trade on Friday, tracking gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC Bank amid a positive trend in global equities.

The 30-share BSE index was later trading 241.05 points or 0.46 per cent higher at 52,541.52 in initial deals. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 72 points or 0.46 per cent to 15,809.75.

PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, ONGC, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma, Infosys and HDFC twins.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finserv, HUL, Bajaj Finance, Titan and Tech Mahindra were the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex finished 358.83 points or 0.69 per cent higher at 52,300.47, and Nifty climbed 102.40 points or 0.65 per cent to end at 15,737.75..

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,329.70 crore on Thursday, as per provisional exchange data.

Improving business environment from the beginning of June, led by phased withdrawal of business curbs by the states has lifted sentiments among investors, said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

High frequency key economic indicators are likely to see remarkable improvement from current month onwards, which should sustain premium valuations of the market, he noted.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were in trading on a positive note in mid-session deals, while Shanghai was in the red.

US equities finished with gains in the overnight session.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.55 per cent lower at USD 72.12 per barrel.