Sensex rises over 200 pts in early trade; Nifty above 18,240

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points in opening trade on Friday, tracking gains in index heavyweights HDFC twins, Titan and Bajaj Auto amid a largely positive trend in global markets.

The 30-share index was trading 207.09 points or 0.34 per cent higher at 61,130.59 in initial deals. Similarly, the Nifty advanced 65.65 points or 0.36 per cent to 18,243.75.

HDFC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising about 2 per cent, followed by Titan, PowerGrid, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel.

On the other hand, NTPC, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finance were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the 30-share index ended 336.46 points or 0.55 per cent lower at 60,923.50, and Nifty dropped 88.50 points or 0.48 per cent to 18,178.10.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,818.90 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended on a mixed note in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.54 per cent to USD 84.15 per barrel.