Sensex, Nifty Rise in Early Trade: Positive Asian Cues

Mumbai, Feb 15 (PTI) Markets opened on a positive note on Thursday with Sensex and Nifty rising in early trade as investors tracked positive Asian and global cues.

The 30-share benchmark Sensex gained 115.89 points or 0.16 per cent to 71,938.72 points while the broader Nifty climbed 36.90 points or 0.17 per cent to 21,876.95 points.

In the Sensex pack, Mahindra and Mahindra, NTPC, Tata Steel, Wipro and Infosys were among the gainers while Reliance Industries and Maruti Suzuki were trading marginally lower.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said equities in Asia opened higher Thursday after Wall Street resumed a rally as robust earnings helped overcome worries about persistent inflation.

"All three major stock indexes in the US finished higher on Wednesday, shaking off weakness seen earlier in the day, as investors considered whether there may have been an overreaction to US inflation data in the previous session," he said.

On Wednesday, domestic equity market reversed its early losses and closed in the positive territory. While Sensex jumped 267.64 points or 0.37 per cent to close at 71,822.83 points, Nifty went up 96.80 points or 0.45 per cent to end the day at 21,840.05 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,929.60 crore, according to exchange data.