Sensex climbs 134 pts ahead of macro data; Rupee gains 21 paise against dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex rose about 134 points in early trade today as investors looked forward to release of key macroeconomic data amid positive global cues. Optimistic buying in blue-chip stocks ahead of industrial production and inflation data, to be released after market hours, drove stocks higher, brokers said. The 30-share index went up 133.60 points, or 0.38 percent, to 35,379.87. The gauge lost 73.08 points in the previous session. Sectoral indices led by oil and gas, IT, consumer durables, capital goods and FMCG turned green. The NSE Nifty index also rose 45.95 points, or 0.42 percent, at 10,762.50. Major gainers were Asian Paints, Dr Reddy’s, L&T, ITC Ltd, TCS, Coal India, Infosys, Adani Ports, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, HDFC Ltd, NTPC, Wipro, Axis Bank and Maruti Suzuki, rising by up to 2.28 percent. [caption id=“attachment_2390930” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Reuters[/caption] Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 900.69 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 364.88 crore yesterday, as per provisional data. Globally, Asian markets were trading higher, tracking gains on Wall Street overnight. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.25 percent and Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.90 percent in their early trade. China’s main Shanghai Composite Index was flat. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.80 percent higher yesterday. Rupee gains The rupee showed some strength to quote 21 paise higher at 67.11 against the dollar in early trade today on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks amidst higher opening in the domestic equity market. Forex dealers said besides selling of the American currency by exporters and banks, weakness in the dollar against other currencies overseas after tepid inflation data supported the rupee. A higher opening in the domestic equity market also influenced the rupee uptrend, they added. Yesterday, the rupee had lost 5 paise to end at a fresh 15-month low of 67.32 against the American currency on steady dollar demand from banks and importers.