Sensex jumps over 200 points in early trade; Infosys, HDFC Bank track gains

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points in early trade on Thursday, tracking gains in index majors Infosys, TCS and HDFC Bank amid heavy foreign fund inflow. The 30-share BSE index was trading 216.23 points or 0.41 percent higher at 52,522.31 in initial deals. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 59.95 points or 0.38 percent to 15,746.90. TCS was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 1 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, L&T, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, SBI and Axis Bank. On the other hand, Titan, NTPC, Bajaj Auto and Reliance Industries were among the laggards. In the previous session, Sensex index ended 282.63 points or 0.54 percent lower at 52,306.08, while Nifty declined 85.80 points or 0.54 percent to 15,686.95. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 3,156.53 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data. According to Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities, domestic equities look to be modestly good as of now. Sharp contraction in daily caseload and ramp-up in vaccination programmes offer comfort to the market. “We believe expectations of a sharp improvement in high-frequency key economic indicators from the current month supported by ease in business curbs in various states should continue to offer support to corporate earnings,” he added. US equities traded sideways and ended mixed on Wednesday after two days of back-to-back gains. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Shanghai was in the red. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.12 percent higher at $75.28 per barrel.