Sensex rises over 200 pts in early trade; Nifty above 11,600 level

Mumbai, Aug. 28 (PTI): The BSE benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points in early trade on Friday led by gains in index-heavyweights ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Reliance Industries amid persistent foreign fund inflow and positive cues from Asian peers.

The BSE Sensex was trading 261.03 points or 0.67 per cent higher at 39,374.50; while the NSE Nifty was up 71.60 points or 0.62 per cent at 11,630.85.

Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 4 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, L&T, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma and ONGC.

On the other hand, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, Infosys and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex closed at 39,113.47, up 39.55 points or 0.10 per cent, while Nifty inched up 9.65 points or 0.08 per cent to close at 11,559.25.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,164.32 crore on a net basis on Thursday.

According to traders, positive cues from Asian equity benchmarks and sustained foreign fund inflow lifted benchmarks in early trade.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-day deals.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended on a mixed note in overnight session after US Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell said the central bank will remain accommodative and shift to a more relaxed approach on inflation. Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.09 per cent higher at USD 45.64 per barrel.