Sensex, Nifty trade in green; Infosys gains 3% on share buyback proposal

Key Highlights: 

• Sensex, Nifty open above 0.28% each
• Infosys top gainer on BSE after its share buyback proposal
• Rupee trades mostly flat against US dollar

Sensex and Nifty opened on a positive note supported by positive global cues. The 31-scrip index was trading at 31,837.21 up 67 points or 0.21%, while the 51-scrip index surged by nearly 28 points or 0.28% trading at 9,924.80. 

In pre-open market, Sensex touched 31,927.51 higher by 157 points, while Nifty was up 49 points at 9,945.55. 

Analysts at Motilal Oswal said, "Upmove in Indian markets continued helped by positive global cues. Metals, Pharma and banking stocks saw a recovery."

Infosys took the lead in gainers category by rising over 3.25 or Rs 32 trading at Rs 1008.50 on BSE after the company said it will consider a proposal for buyback of its equity shares at its meeting to be held on August 19.

In regards to Infosys, Motilal said, "This should bring some upsides from a short term perspective but is broadly in line with the plans indicated earlier by the management.''

Other gainers were Reliance Industries at Rs 1,589.90 per piece up 1.46%, followed by Tata Steel at Rs 635.10 (0.85%), Bharti Airtel at Rs 409.70 per piece (0.75%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories at Rs 2,011.60 per piece (0.64%) and Lupin at Rs 966.15 per piece (0.41%). 

Among losers were Hindustan Unilever (Rs 1,176.85 per piece), Kotak Mahindra Bank (Rs 994.45 per piece), Tata Motors (Rs 386.95 per piece), Larsen & Toubro (Rs 1,137 per piece) and HDFC Bank (Rs 1,174.60 per piece) trading negative in the range of 0.30% - 0.95%. 

Meantime, Indian rupee was trading at 64.005 down 0.010 paisa or 0.02% against the US benchmark dollar. 

India`s bonds and forex markets are closed on Thursday for a holiday. Trading will resume on Friday.

Asian stocks edged higher on Thursday, as tensions between the United States and North Korea came off the boil, while the Federal Reserve`s concerns about weak U.S. inflation weighed on the dollar, reported in Reuters.