Sensex rises over 100 pts; Nifty tests 11,600

The benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 100 points in early trade Wednesday tracking record gains on Wall Street amid easing crude prices. After hitting an intra-day high of 38,701.52, the 30-share index was trading 75.37 points or 0.20 per cent higher at 38,640.25. The NSE

Nifty too rose 21.15 points or 0.18 per cent to 11,597.10. In the previous session, the BSE bourse settled 80.30 points, or 0.21 per cent, lower at 38,564.88 and the broader NSE Nifty too slipped 18.50 points, or 0.16 per cent, to close at 11,575.95.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack were ONGC, IndusInd Bank, HDFC twins, Reliance, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, L&T, Bajaj Finance, HCL Tech and Yes Bank, rising up to 2.90 per cent. On the other hand, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Vedanta, Maruti, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Kotak  Bank, SBI, Bajaj Auto and ITC were among the top losers, shedding up to 1.86 per cent. According to traders, market sentiment turned positive as investor took positive cues from US equities and easing crude oil prices.

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Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading 0.50 per cent lower at USD 74.14 per barrel. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq ended at record highs on Tuesday amid a slew of better-than-expected earnings reports.

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Elsewhere in Asia, benchmark equity indices in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul were trading in the red in early trade. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equity worth Rs 237.47 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares to the tune of Rs 198.35 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

The rupee, however, depreciated 15 paise to 69.77 against the US dollar in early trade.