Sensex starts on a positive note amid mixed Asia; breaches 27,400-mark

Domestic equities made a cautious but positive start Wednesday, with the fall in overnight US markets and a mixed trend in other Asian gauges limiting the gains of the Sensex, which, however, managed to breach the psychological 27,400-mark in early trade.

Taking a stock-specific approach, buying in select index heavyweights lifted the Sensex to an early high of 27,405.82, up 99 points. At 10 am, the 30-share BSE S&P Sensex was at 27,370.25, up 63.42 points, or 0.2 percent from previous close. The broader 50-stock CNX Nifty was at 8,274.70, up 13.05 points, or 0.2 percent.

Broader market was upbeat with gainers outpacing losers by 2:1. Of the 1,689 stocks traded so far, 1,080 stocks advanced, while 539 declined and 70 were unchanged on BSE.

Globally, all the key US share indices ended weak on Tuesday, while Asian key gauges exhibited a mixed trend. While Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.1 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.4 percent while Hang Seng traded 0.4 per cent lower amid rising global markets uncertainty.

On the domestic front, shares of telecom major Bharti Airtel topped the gainers chart in the Sensex pack, rising 2.5 percent to Rs 370.90. Among other movers, shares of Reliance Industries rose 1.2 percent to Rs 966.50, Axis Bank gained 1.1 percent to Rs 514.35 and Vedanta was up 1.1 percent at Rs 102.35.

However, pharma stocks faltered in early trades due to profit-taking after the recent surge. Shares of Dr Reddy’s dropped 1.7 percent to Rs 4,242.30, Sun Pharma lost 0.8 percent to Rs 894.25 and Lupin was down 0.2 percent at Rs 2,071.

Although the mood reflects a cautious trend, second-rung stocks continue to stay the darlings of the investors with BSE mid-cap index outperforming benchmark indices with gains of 0.3 percent to 11,219.68.