Sensex jumps over 130 points, Asian stocks at 4-month peak

New Delhi: Markets opened on a higher note on Wednesday as Asian stocks touched four-month peak on US-China trade deal hopes.

The BSE Sensex jumped 134.31 points or 0.37 percent to 36,287.93 in early trade while the NSE Nifty edged higher by 33.45 points or 0.31 percent to 10,864.85.

The rupee appreciated by another 26 paise to 70.44 against the US dollar in opening trade Wednesday after retail inflation fell to a 19-month low of 2.05 percent in January.

Top gainers were in the Sensex pack included Sun Pharma, ITC, PowerGrid, HDFC, TCS, ONGC, HUL, NTPC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, HUL, Coal India, Vedanta, Bajaj Finance, L&T and Yes Bank, rising up to 2.60 percent.

However, M&M, Hero MotoCorp, HCL Tech, SBI, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto were down on some selling.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 466.78 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 122.64 crore Tuesday, provisional data showed.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose as much as 0.5 percent to hit its highest level since early October, a Reuters report wrote. Japan`s Nikkei average climbed 1.3 percent to mark an eight-week high, while South Korea`s KOSPI gained 0.5 percent.

China`s benchmark Shanghai Composite and the blue-chip CSI 300 advanced 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, and Hong Kong`s Hang Seng was up 0.6 percent.

With Agency Inputs