Sensex surges over 400 points while Nifty tops 16,900 in early trade

In early trade on Wednesday, the Sensex rose more than 400 points, tracking advances in index mainstays Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank amid a favorable trend in global markets.

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In the first hour of trading, the 30-share index rose 449.23 points, or 0.80%, to 56,768.24. Similarly, the Nifty rose 134.95 points, or 0.80%, to 16,905.80.

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The highest gainer in the Sensex pack was IndusInd Bank, which rose roughly 2%, followed by Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, and M&M while PowerGrid, Asian Paints, Wipro, and Nestle India were among the losers.

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The 30-share equity benchmark increased 497 points, or 0.89%, to close the previous session at 56,319.01, while the Nifty jumped 156.65 points, or 0.94%, to 16,770.85.

According to stock exchange statistics, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to be net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday, selling shares worth Rs 1,209.82 crore.

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“The positive global backdrop provided by the recovery in the US and European markets might aid the bulls, but this is not sufficient to take the markets much higher. Nifty is unlikely to reach near the October high of 18,604 anytime soon,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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Even though FII selling has come down, they are likely to press sale if the market goes up meaningfully, he added.

In other Asian markets, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul were trading higher in mid-session trades.  In the overnight session, stock markets in the United States closed on a strong note.

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Meanwhile, Brent crude, the international oil standard, increased 0.24% to USD 74.16 per barrel. In early trade, the rupee climbs 4 paise to 75.55 against the US dollar.