Sensex rises over 100 pts in early trade; Nifty tops 11,500 level

Mumbai, Aug. 26 (PTI): The BSE benchmark Sensex rose over 100 points in early trade on Wednesday led by gains in index-heavyweight banking stocks amid persistent foreign fund inflow.

After touching a high of 38,980.60 in opening session, the BSE Sensex was trading 98.93 points or 0.25 per cent higher at 38,942.81; while the NSE Nifty was up 35.40 points or 0.31 per cent at 11,507.65.

Bajaj Auto was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 4 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, M&M, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, HDFC and TCS were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the Sensex closed 44.80 points or 0.12 per cent higher at 38,843.88, and Nifty inched up 5.80 points or 0.05 per cent to close at 11,472.25.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth INR 1,481.20 crore on a net basis on Tuesday.

Traders said extended rally in banking stocks lifted benchmark indices in early trade, despite tepid cues from Asian peers.

Persistent foreign fund inflow too buoyed market sentiment, they said.

In the international market, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with losses in mid-day deals, while stock exchanges on Wall Street ended on a positive note in overnight session.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.24 per cent higher at USD 46.40 per barrel.