The Indian equity benchmarks opened on a positive note on Thursday. At 9:30 am, the 30-share Sensex surged 197 points or 0.37 per cent at 53,224, whereas the NSE Nifty 50 index advanced 50.95 points or 0.32 per cent at 15,850.
Amongst the broader indices, Nifty Midcap 50 index advanced 0.18 per cent at 7,372, whereas the Nifty Midcap 100 index surged 0.27 per cent at 26,743. Barring the stocks of realty, all other sectoral indices witnessed buying in early trade.
Britannia, Tata Motors, Apollo Hospitals, State Bank of India, and Axis Bank were the top gainers, whereas Cipla, Tata Consumers, ONGC, Coal India and Tech Mahindra were the top losers.
Notably, the major indices in Asia were trading lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.98 per cent, whereas Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.27 per cent. South Korea’s KOSPI was trading 0.78 per cent lower. However, while China’s Shanghai Composite was trading 0.31 per cent higher, the Shenzhen Component index advanced 1.14 per cent.
Back home, the foreign institutional investors continue to remain net sellers worth Rs 851 crore, whereas the domestic institutional investors were the net buyer's worth Rs 847 crore on Wednesday.
