Sensex rises over 100 points led by gains in banking stocks amid continued buying by foreign investors; Nifty above 11,300-mark

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex rose over 100 points on Wednesday led by gains in banking stocks amid continued buying by foreign investors. The 30-share index was trading 134.95 points, or 0.36 percent, higher at 37,670.61, while the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 22.10 points, or 0.20 percent, to 11,323.30. [caption id=“attachment_2406514” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In the previous session, the BSE gauge settled 481.56 points, or 1.30 percent, higher at 37,535.66. The broader Nifty closed with gains of 133.15 points, or 1.19 percent, at 11,301.20. Top gainers in early trade include HCL Tech, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, HUL, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, RIL, SBI and Infosys, rising up to 2.58 percent. ONGC, NTPC, Coal India, Vedanta and Bharti Airtel fell up to 2.17 percent were trading in the red. Domestic equities extended their gains for the third session, driven by positive factors like sustained foreign fund inflows, stronger rupee and chances of the incumbent NDA government coming for a second term, experts said. On a net basis, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 2,477.72 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 990.48 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed. However, investors turned cautious, capping gains on bourses, after retail inflation jumped to a four-month high of 2.57 percent in February, and industrial growth slipped to 1.7 percent on account of manufacturing sector slowdown, traders said. According to the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) expanded by just 1.7 percent in January, significantly down from 7.5 percent growth in the year-ago month. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.59 percent, Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.37 percent, Kospi shed 0.88 percent, and Japan’s Nikkei cracked 1.35 percent in early trade. On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.38 percent lower on Tuesday. The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated marginally against US dollar to 69.76. The benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.24 percent to $ 66.83 per barrel.