Sensex rises over 36 points on F&O expiry, positive global cues

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose over 36 points to 26,101 in early trade on Thursday, extending its climb for the third straight day on short-covering in view of April derivatives series expiry and positive global cues.

A firming trend in most of Asia, tracking overnight gains in the US after the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, gave buying in domestic markets a leg-up, traders said.

Taking note of improvement in the labour market, the US central bank cited slower economic growth for its policy move while signalling faith in the outlook for the economy.

In a related development, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) too kept rates steady.

The 30-share index was trading higher by 36.42 points, or 0.13%, to 26,100.54. The gauge had gained 385 points in the previous two sessions. At 10:18 hours, the Sensex was trading up by 11.21 points, or 0.04%, to 26,075.33 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

That apart, better-than-estimated earnings by some companies came as a positive for sentiment.

The NSE Nifty rose 10.30 points, or 0.12%, to 7,990.20 in early trade. At 10:20 hours, the Nifty was trading up 5.95 points, or 0.07%, to 7,985.85 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). 

Short-covering by participants with Thursday being the last trading session of April series contracts in the derivatives segment supported the upward movement.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel surged 2.26% to Rs 3,481.60 after the company on Wednesday reported a 2.8% jump in net profit at Rs 1,290 crore for the fourth quarter (Q4) to March 2016.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng firmed up 0.22% while Japan's Nikkei moved higher by 1.41% in early hours on Thursday. The Shanghai Composite Index, however, was down 0.76%.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.28% higher on Wednesday.