Sensex surges over 250 pts in early trade; Nifty tops 18,350

Sensex surges over 250 pts in early trade; Nifty tops 18,350

Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 250 points in opening trade on Thursday, tracking gains in index majors HDFC twins, Kotak Bank and Infosys amid a largely positive trend in global markets.

The 30-share index was trading 265.84 points or 0.43 per cent higher at 61,525.80 in initial deals. Similarly, the Nifty advanced 93.45 points or 0.51 per cent to 18,360.05.

Sun Pharma was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, NTPC, HDFC, Kotak Bank and M&M.

On the other hand, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, TCS and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the 30-share index ended 456.09 points or 0.74 per cent lower at 61,259.96, and Nifty dropped 152.15 points or 0.83 per cent to 18,266.60.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,843.09 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Hong Kong and Tokyo were in the red.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street largely ended on a positive note in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.08 per cent to USD 85.75 per barrel.