Sensex Rises Over 250 Points In Early Trade, Nifty Above 16,200

Indian equity benchmarks on Wednesday traded higher in opening deals led by gains in banking and financial stocks.

Trends on the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) indicated a higher start for the domestic indices.

Asian shares opened in positive territory even as global growth concerns and weak U.S. economic data weighed on Wall Street overnight.

Back home, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 284 points or 0.53 per cent to 54,337 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 79 points or 0.49 per cent up to trade at 16,204.

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a strong note as Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.26 per cent and small-cap gained 0.38 per cent.

14 out of the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the National Stock Exchange — were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 1.07 per cent and 1.19 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, SBI Life was the top gainer as the stock soared 2.64 per cent to ₹ 1,101.70. IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, SBI and NTPC were also among the gainers.

On the 30-share BSE index, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries were among the top gainers.

Also, shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) rose 0.65 per cent to trade at ₹ 829.10 against its previous close of ₹ 823.75. Yesterday, the state-run insurer said its board would consider dividend payment. LIC made a tepid debut at the stock exchanges last week, listing at a discount of 8.62 per cent.

In contrast, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HCL Tech, Wipro, Tata Steel and M&M were trading in the red.

Sensex had slipped 236 points or 0.43 per cent to close at 54,053 on Tuesday, while Nifty had moved 90 points or 0.55 per cent down to settle at 16,125.