Sensex jumps over 250 points in early trade; Reliance Industries and SBI track gains

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 250 points in early trade on Tuesday, tracking gains in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, Reliance Industries and SBI amid a mixed trend in other Asian markets. The 30-share BSE index was trading 271.72 points or 0.52 percent higher at 52,209.16 in initial deals, and the broader NSE Nifty rose 69.70 points or 0.45 percent to 15,652.50. Bajaj Auto was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising more than 2 percent, followed by SBI, HDFC, Bajaj Finance, L&T, Reliance Industries and IndusInd Bank. On the other hand, Infosys, TCS, Nestle India, Dr Reddy’s were among the laggards. In the previous session, Sensex ended 514.56 points or 1 percent higher at 51,937.44, and the broader NSE Nifty surged 147.15 points or 0.95 percent to its fresh closing record of 15,582.80. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they bought shares worth 2,412.39 crore on Monday, as per provisional exchange data. “The ongoing bull run in the market has taken even the incorrigible optimists by surprise. FIIs, regarded as smart investors, have been caught on the wrong foot,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. Their sustained selling from early April to mid-May has proved to be a wrong strategy and, therefore, now they are making amends through heavy purchases. Massive FII buying in the cash market is an indication of the likely direction of this market, he added. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong and Seoul were trading in the positive territory in mid-session deals, while Shanghai and Tokyo were in the red. Equities on Wall Street closed higher in the overnight session. International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.20 percent higher at $70.15 per barrel.