Sensex Jumps 250 Points, Nifty Above 22,400; ITC Rallies 6%

Equity benchmark indices opened higher on Wednesday, tracking strength in global markets after CPI data both in India and the US came largely in line with expectations. The BSE Sensex rose 250 points to 73,888 and the NSE Nifty50 was up 43 points at 22,379.

ITC jumped 6 per cent, leading gains on the Sensex. It was followed by gains in Nestle, TCS, Wipro and HDFC Bank.

On the flip side, NTPC, Power Grid, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and Sun Pharma were among the frontline losers.

The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were nearly flat with an uptick of 0.1 per cent each.

Global Cues

With estimates being largely met and no surprise jump in inflation, US indices gained overnight led by Nvidia-rally. The Dow rose 0.6 per cent, S&P 500 1.12 per cent and the Nasdaq 1.54 per cent.

Hang Seng, Kospi and ASX 200 also held nominal gains in Asia this morning. Nikkei was seen paring gains to dip 0.2 per cent.