Sensex jumps 210 points, Nifty above 11,440

New Delhi: Markets opened in the positive zone on Wednesday led by gains in banking and auto stocks.

The BSE Sensex rose 210.67 points or 0.55 percent to 38,738.99 in early trade while the NSE Nifty rose 62.00 points or 0.54 percent to 11,447.35.

Major gainers in the Sensex pack were SBI, LT, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Asian Paint, Sun Pharma, M&M, ITC, Titan and Maruti, rising upto 2 percent. On the other hand, major losers were HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Nestle, HUL, Kotak Bank, Powergrid, and Infosys, falling upto 1.15 percent.

Asian shares climbed to a seven-month peak. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan rose 0.3%, up for a third straight day to 570.80 points, a level not seen since late January. The gains were driven by Australian shares, up 0.8% and South Korea, which added 0.6%. Japan`s Nikkei nudged up too though Chinese shares started weaker with the blue-chip CSI300 index off 0.7%, a Reuters report said.

In the previous session, the BSE Sensex closed 477.54 points or 1.26 per cent higher at 38,528.32, while the NSE Nifty surged 138.25 points or 1.23 per cent to 11,385.35.