Sensex rises over 300 points in early trade; Nifty nears 17,700

Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 300 points in early trade on Thursday, tracking gains in banking, finance and metal stocks amid a firm trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 305.74 points to 59,391.17 in early trade. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 85.05 points to 17,690.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank were among the lead gainers.

HCL Technologies emerged as the only laggard.

In Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai were trading in the green in mid-session deals.

Wall Street had ended higher on Wednesday.

The BSE benchmark climbed 54.13 points or 0.09 per cent to settle at 59,085.43 on Wednesday. The Nifty went up by 27.45 points or 0.16 per cent to 17,604.95.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.45 per cent to USD 101.68 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 23.19 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

“The resilience of the Indian market even amidst global volatility can be attributed mainly to two factors: one, the strong growth momentum in the economy and two, the steady FII flows even when the dollar has been appreciating,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.