Sensex soars 128 points in early trade on firm global cues; Rupee takes more losses, sheds 10 paise against dollar

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex rallied over 128 points to 35,447.43 in early session today, maintaining its positive form for the fourth straight day on positive cues from global markets. Unabated buying by domestic institutional investors fuelled the uptrend, brokers said. The 30-share Sensex, which gained 403.97 points in the previous three sessions, added 128.08 points, or 0.36 percent, at 35,447.43. All sectoral indices of BSE led by auto, IT, teck, capital goods and banking were in the positive zone, rising by up to 0.59 percent. The NSE Nifty too jumped 39.65 points, or 0.36 percent, to 10,781.35. Prominent gainers that supported the upward trend included ICICI Bank, M&M, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, RIL, Kotak Bank, HUL, Axis Bank, Coal India, L&T, TCS, HDFC Bank and Infosys, gaining up to 1.16 percent. Investors were busy expanding their positions amid expectations of encouraging earnings from more companies, they added. A firming trend in rest of Asia following overnight positive leads from the Wall Street too influenced sentiments here. [caption id=“attachment_4357795” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Stock broker. Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Globally, oil prices traded higher as investors digested the impact of renewed US sanctions on Iran. Meanwhile, on a net basis, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 664.92 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 704.03 crore yesterday, provisional data showed. Japan’s Nikkei quoted 0.17 percent higher while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.83 percent in early deals. China’s Shanghai Composite Index too rose 0.15 percent. The US market ended 0.75 percent higher yesterday. Rupee weakens further The rupee weakened by 10 paise to trade at a fresh 15-month low of 67.37 against the US dollar in early trade today due to appreciation of the American currency overseas amid sustained foreign capital outflows and soaring global crude prices. This is the rupee’s second straight slide, which dealers say is mostly due to demand for the US currency. However, a higher opening in the domestic equity market capped the losses. The dollar held firm against a basket of currencies overseas after the 10-year US bond yield rose back to the psychologically important 3 percent mark and investors looked to US consumer price data due later to show an acceleration in inflation. The rupee had closed 19 paise lower at a 15-month low of 67.27 yesterday against the US currency following a surging demand for the dollar as crude oil prices zoomed past $ 77 per barrel level.