Sensex up 138 points in opening trade

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex advanced by 138 points in early trade today as realty, banking, capital goods, power, PSU and metal stocks attracted strong buying interest on the back of firm Asian cues amid a surge in foreign capital inflows. The BSE benchmark Sensex resumed higher at 16,922.31 and shot up further to 17,027.15 before quoting at 17,001.01 at 1015 hours, a net rise of 138.20 points, or 0.82 percent, from its last close. [caption id=“attachment_77994” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The NSE’s 50-share Nifty Index also moved up by 40.15 points. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters”]  [/caption] The NSE’s 50-share Nifty Index also moved up by 40.15 points, or 0.79 percent, to 5,104.45 at 1015 hours. In the 30-share Sensex pack, 26 stocks gained, while four declined. The major gainers in early trade were Jaiprakash Associates (up 5.13 percent), Tata Power (3.91 percent), HDFC (2.10 percent), HDFC Bank (2.01 percent), SBI (1.91 percent) and Coal India (1.86 percent). Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 431.48 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Asian markets edged higher in early trade today as the yen weakened to its lowest level since 2008. The key benchmark indices in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia were up by between 0.93 percent and 2.56 percent. PTI