Sensex, Nifty open in green; auto, bank, metal stocks shine

New Delhi: Markets opened in green backed by strengthening of the domestic currency. The rupee breached the 70 mark by surging 50 paise to trade at 69.94 against the dollar in early trade at the interbank forex market.

The BSE Sensex jupmed 110.67 points or 0.30 percent to 36,457.75 in early trade while the NSE Nifty edged higher by 37.25 points or 0.34 percent at 10,945.95.

Led by FMCG, oil and gas, PSU and realty, sectoral indices advanced up to 0.99 percent. Prominent gainers were Asian Paint, Axis Bank, ITC, Maruti Suzuki, SBI, HDFC, Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, HUL, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, L&T, RIL and HDFC Bank, rising up to 1.70 percent. However, Infosys emerged worst Sensex performer, falling 1.20 per cent, followed by Vedanta, TCS, Tata Motors and Sun Pharma.

Shares of aviation companies rose after crude prices hit a 14-month low. InterGlobe Aviation, SpiceJet and Jet Airways rallied up to 5 percent.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares to the tune of Rs 144.76 crore Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 182.60, provisional data showed.

Asian share markets played second fiddle to bonds on Wednesday as a spectacular fall in the price of oil fanned speculation the US Federal Reserve might be done with tightening after its policy meeting later in the day, a Reuters report said.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.2 percent in hesitant early trade. Japan`s Nikkei eased 0.1 percent, while E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 inched up 0.17 percent.

With Agency Inputs