Domestic markets open in green; Sensex regains 28,000-mark

Indian equity markets opened in green amid positive Asian cues. The BSE-Sensex regained the 28000-mark by rising 118 points during the early trade on Wednesday.

The 30-share benchmark opened at 28,108.39 while NSE-Nifty climbed 28.45 points, or 0.32% to 8661.05.

At 1035 hours Sensex was at 28,024.26, up 34.05 points or 0.12%. Nifty was at 8,641.85, up 9.25%, or 0.11%.

The short-covering of positions by speculators in view of tomorrow's August monthly derivatives contract expiry contributed to the upmove, a PTI report said.

On BSE, among the top gainers were Torrent Pharma (7.17%), BF Utilities (6.32%), Aurobindo Pharma (5.17%), Hindustan Copper (4.75%) and India Cements (4.35%). Among losers were Idea (-2.63%), Escorts (-2.58%), Lupin (-2.57%), Atul (-2.22%) and Crompton Greaves (-1.96%).

The rupee weakened by 9 paise to 67.15 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on fresh demand for the American currency from importers.

On the global front, Asian stocks consolidated recent gains helped by Wall Street's rise overnight, even as oil prices slid after a surprise build in US crude stocks, a Reuters report said.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.3% in early trade. It has risen more than 14% since late June to hit a 1-year high last week.