Sensex jumps over 100 points in early trade; Nifty tops 15,200

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 100 points in opening trade on Friday tracking gains in index majors Infosys, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank amid persistent foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 141.75 points or 0.28 per cent higher at 51,673.27, and the broader NSE Nifty advanced 36.50 points or 0.24 per cent to 15,209.80.

Infosys was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, TCS and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, ITC, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, SBI and IndusInd Bank were among the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex settled 222.13 points or 0.43 per cent higher at its new closing peak of 51,531.52, and Nifty advanced 66.80 points or 0.44 per cent to its all-time high of 15,173.30.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 944.36 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.

"Domestic equities look to be soft at the moment. Benchmark indices remained upbeat and continued to ride post the announcement of Union Budget, which was also supported by a sharp recovery in FPIs flow," said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

US equities finished mostly higher mainly on growing expectations of higher fiscal stimulus after weaker-than-expected Jobless claim data.

Elsewhere in Asia, most bourses remained closed on account of the Lunar New Year and other holidays.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.62 per cent lower at USD 60.76 per barrel.