Sensex rallies over 300 pts in early trade; Reliance Ind up 2%

Mumbai, Sep. 23 (PTI): Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 300 points in early trade on Wednesday, tracking gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC twins amid positive domestic and global cues.

The 30-share index was trading 324.27 points or 0.86 per cent higher at 38,058.35, and the NSE Nifty rose 92.25 points or 0.83 per cent to 11,245.90.

Reliance Industries was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 2 per cent after it announced that global investment firm KKR will invest INR 5,550 crore in its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures to pick 1.28 per cent equity stake.

Infosys, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, Kotak Bank, Titan and HDFC Bank were among the other gainers.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, NTPC, ONGC, TCS and Bajaj Auto were among the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex settled 300.06 points or 0.79 per cent down at 37,734.08, and the Nifty fell 96.90 points or 0.86 per cent to 11,153.65.

Meanwhile, exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth INR 2,072.76 crore on a net basis on Tuesday.

According to traders, rebound in US equities in the overnight session, largely positive cues from Asian peers and fresh attempts to ease India-China border tension enthused domestic investors.

In a move to bring down tensions in eastern Ladakh, India and China on Tuesday agreed to stop sending more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground and avoid taking any actions that may further complicate matters.

On the global front, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading with gains in mid-day deals, while those in Tokyo and Seoul were in the red.

Stock exchanges in the US ended on a positive note in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.81 per cent lower at USD 41.38 per barrel.