Sensex jumps over 200 pts in early trade; Nifty tops 11,600

Mumbai, Aug. 27 (PTI): The BSE benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points in early trade on Thursday tracking gains in financial stocks and persistent foreign fund inflow ahead of the expiry of monthly derivative contracts.

After touching a high of 39,310.37 in opening session, the BSE Sensex was trading 200.06 points or 0.51 per cent higher at 39,273.98; while the NSE Nifty was up 52.75 points or 0.46 per cent at 11,602.35.

IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 3 per cent, followed by HDFC twins, SBI, M&M, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, ITC and Asian Paints.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, HUL and NTPC were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the Sensex closed 39,073.92, up 230.04 points or 0.59 per cent. The NSE Nifty advanced 77.35 points or 0.67 per cent to finish at 11,549.60.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,581.31 crore on a net basis on Wednesday.

According to traders extended gains in banking stocks ahead of expiry of August futures and options contracts and persistent foreign fund inflow drove the gains on key indices.

Further, investors are awaiting US Fed chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the central bank’s annual Jackson Hole symposium. Officials in the past have used the meeting, being held online this year, to make market-moving announcements.

Bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with losses in mid-day deals, while Shanghai was in positive territory.

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

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.11 per cent higher at USD 46.21 per barrel.